BURNS 


GRACE-S- RICHMOND 


19 


RED  PEPPER  BURNS 


BT   THE    SAME    AUTHOR 


A  Court  of  Inquiry 
On  Christmas  Day  in  the  Morning 
On  Christmas  Day  in  the  Evening 
Round  the  Corner  in  Gay  Street 
The  Indifference  of  Juliet 
With  Juliet  in  England 
The  Second  Violin 


11  IK)  IT,  OK  COURSE."  SHE  WHISI'F.KKI).     "AND  TAKE  MY  I.OVH.  WITH  YOU." 


RED  PEPPER 
BURNS 

By  GRACE  S.  RICHMOND 


Author  of  "Round  the  Corner  in  Gay  Street,"   "The 
Indifference  of  Juliet,"  "With  Juliet  in  England,"  etc. 


WITH  FOUR  ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  COLOR 
BY  C.  M.  RELYEA  AND  JOHN  JACKSON 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED,   INCLUDING  THAT  OF  TRANSLATION 
INTO  FOREIGN  LANGUAGES,  INCLUDING  THE  SCANDINAVIAN 

COPYRIGHT,    IpIO,   BY   DOUBLEDAY,    PAGE    &   COMPANY 
PUBLISHED,  OCTOBER,    1910 

COPYRIGHT,    1010,   BY    THE  CURTIS    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  PRESS,  GARDEN  CITY,  N.  Y. 


1^10 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTEK  PAGE 

I.    IN  WHICH  HE  Vows  A  Vow   ...  3 

II.    IN  WHICH  HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS    .          .  17 

III.  IN  WHICH  HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY  31 

IV.  IN  WHICH  HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION         .  47 
V.    IN  WHICH  HE  is  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND      .  65 

VI.    IN  WHICH  HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF  .  79 

VII.    IN  WHICH  HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD  .  100 

VIII.    IN  WHICH  HE  is  UNREASONABLY  PREOC 
CUPIED    ......  115 

IX.    IN  WHICH  HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT       .          .  132 

X.     IN  WHICH  HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST    .  149 

XI.    IN  WHICH  HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF  166 

XII.    IN  WHICH  HE  HAS  His  OWN  WAY  .         .  182 

Xin.    IN  WHICH  HE  MAKES  No  EVENING  CALL  199 
XIV.    IN  WHICH  HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION 


26915 


RED  PEPPER  BURNS 


CHAPTER  I 

IN    WHICH    HE    VOWS    A   VOW 

THERE  comes  the  Green  Imp." 
"How  can  you  tell?" 

"Don't  you  hear?  Red's  coming  in  on  five 
cylinders  for  all  he  can  get  out  of  'em.  Anybody 
else  would  stop  and  fix  up.  He's  in  too  much  of 
a  hurry  —  as  usual." 

The  Green  Imp  tore  past  the  porch  where 
Burns's  neighbours  waved  arms  of  greeting  which 
he  failed  to  see,  for  he  did  not  turn  his  head.  The 
car  went  round  the  curve  of  the  driveway  at  peri 
lous  speed,  and  only  the  fact  that  from  road  to  old 
red  barn  was  a  good  twenty  rods  made  it  seem 
possible  that  the  Green  Imp  could  come  to  a 
standstill  in  time  to  prevent  its  banging  into  the 
rear  wall  of  the  barn. 

Two  minutes  later  Burns  ran  by  the  Chesters' 
porch  on  his  way  to  his  own.  Chester  hailed  him. 

"What's  your  everlasting  hurry,  Red?  Come 
up  and  sit  down  and  cool  off." 

3 


4  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Not  now,"  called  back  a  voice  curtly,  out  of 
the  June  twilight.  The  big  figure  ran  on  and 
disappeared  into  the  small  house,  the  door  slam 
ming  shut  behind  it. 

"  Red's  in  a  temper.  Tell  by  the  sound  of  his 
voice." 

"Is  he  ever  in  anything  except  a  temper?" 
inquired  a  guest  of  the  Chesters.  Arthur  Chester 
turned  on  her. 

"Show's  you  don't  know  him  much,  Pauline. 
He's  the  owner  of  the  fiercest  good  disposition 
ever  heard  of.  He's  the  pepperiest  proposition 
of  an  angel  this  earth  has  ever  seen.  He's  a 
red-headed,  sharp-tongued  brute  of  a  saint  - 

"Why,  Arthur  Chester!" 

"He's  a  pot  of  mustard  that's  clear  balm  —  if 
you  don't  mind  getting  stung  when  it's  applied." 

"Well,  of  all  the-     -" 

"I'm  going  over  to  get  something  for  this 
abominable  headache  —  and,  incidentally,  to 
find  out  what's  the  row.  He's  probably  lost  a 
patient  —  it  always  goes  to  his  brain  like  that. 
When  he  abuses  his  beloved  engine  that  way  it's 
because  some  other  machinery  has  stopped  some 
where." 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  5 

"If  he's  lost  a  patient  you'd  better  let  him  alone, 
dear,"  advised  his  wife,  Winifred. 

"No  —  he  needs  to  get  his  mind  off  it,  on  me. 
I  can  fix  up  a  few  symptoms  for  him." 

"He'll  see  through  you,"  called  Mrs.  Chester 
softly,  after  him. 

"No  doubt  of  that.  But  it  may  divert  him, 
just  the  same." 

Chester  made  his  way  across  the  lawn  and  in 
at  the  side  door  which  led  to  the  dimly  lighted 
village  offices  of  Redfield  Pepper  Burns,  physician 
and  surgeon.  Not  that  the  gilt-lettered  sign  on 
the  glass  of  the  office  door  read  that  way.  "  R. 
P.  Burns,  M.D"  was  the  brief  inscription  above 
the  table  of  "office  hours,"  and  the  owner  of  the 
name  invariably  so  curtailed  it.  But  among 
his  friends  the  full  name  had  inevitably  been 
turned  into  the  nickname,  for  the  big,  red-haired, 
quick-tempered,  warm-hearted  fellow  was  "Red 
Pepper  Burns"  as  irresistibly  to  them  as  he  had 
been,  a  decade  earlier,  to  his  classmates  in  college. 

As  Chester  went  in  at  the  door  a  figure  arose 
slowly  from  its  position  —  flung  full  length,  face 
downward,  on  a  couch  in  the  shadowy  inner 
office  —  and  came  into  view. 


6  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Toothache?  Dentist  down  the  street,"  said 
a  blurred  voice  unsympathetically. 

Chester  laughed.  "Oh,  come,  Red,"  said  he. 
"Give  me  some  of  that  headache  dope.  I'm  all 
out." 

"  Glad  to  hear  it.  You  don't  get  any  more  from 
me." 

"Why  not?  I've  got  a  sure-enough  head 
ache  —  I  didn't  come  over  to  quiz  you.  The 
blamed  thing  whizzes  like  a  buzz  saw." 

"Can't  help  it.     Go  soak  it." 

Chester  advanced.  "I'll  get  the  powders  my 
self,  then.  I  know  the  bottle." 

A  substantial  barrier  interposed.  "No,  you 
don't.  You've  taken  up  six  ounces  of  that  stuff 
in  seven  days.  You  quit  to-night." 

"Look  here,  Red,  what's  the  use  of  taking  it 
out  on  me  like  that,  if  you  are  mad  at  some 
thing  ?  If  your  head  - 

"I  wish  it  did  ache  • —  like  ten  thousand  furies. 
It  might  take  some  of  the  pressure  off  somewhere 
else,"  growled  R.  P.  Burns.  He  shut  the  door  of 
the  inner  office  hard  behind  him. 

"I  thought  so,"  declared  Arthur  Chester,  sud 
denly  forgetting  about  his  headache  in  his  anxiety 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  7 

to  know  the  explanation  of  the  five  cylinders. 
It  was  a  small  suburban  town  in  which  they  lived, 
and  if  something  had  gone  wrong  it  was  a  matter 
of  common  interest.  "Can  you  tell  me  about 
it  ?"  he  asked  —  a  little  diffidently,  for  none  knew 
better  than  he  that  things  could  not  always  be 
told,  and  that  no  lips  were  locked  tighter  than 
Red  Pepper's  when  the  secret  was  not  his  to  tell. 

"Engine's  on  the  blink.  Got  to  go  out  and  fix 
it,"  was  the  unpromising  reply.  Burns  picked  up 
a  spark-plug  from  the  office  desk  as  he  spoke. 

"Had  your  dinner  ?" 

"Don't  want  it." 

"Shall  I  go  out  with  you?" 

The  answer  was  an  unintelligible  grunt.  As 
Chester  was  about  to  follow  his  friend  out  —  for 
there  could  be  no  doubt  that  Red  Pepper  Burns 
was  his  friend  in  spite  of  this  somewhat  surly, 
though  by  no  means  unusual,  treatment  —  another 
door  opened  tentatively,  and  a  head  was  cautiously 
inserted. 

"Your  dinner's  ready,  Doctor  Burns,"  said  a 
doubtful  voice. 

Burns  turned.  "Leave  a  pitcher  of  milk  on 
the  table  for  me,  Cynthia,"  he  said  in  a  gentler 


3  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

voice  than  Chester  had  yet  heard  from  him  to 
night,  crisp  though  it  was.  "Nothing  else." 

Chester,  catching  a  glimpse  of  a  brightly  lighted 
dining-room  and  a  table  lavishly  spread,  under 
took  to  remonstrate.  He  had  seen  the  house 
keeper's  disappointed  face,  also.  But  Burns  cut 
him  short. 

"Come  along  —  if  you  must,"  said  he,  and 
stalked  out  into  the  night. 

For  an  hour,  in  the  light  from  one  of  the  Green 
Imp's  lamps,  Chester  sat  on  an  overturned  box 
and  watched  Burns  work.  He  worked  savagely, 
as  if  applying  surgical  measures  to  a  mood  as  well 
as  to  a  machine.  He  worked  like  a  skilled  me 
chanic  as  well;  every  turn  of  a  nut,  every  polish 
of  a  thread  meaning  definite  means  to  an  end. 
The  night  was  hot  and  he  had  thrown  off"  coat 
and  collar  and  rolled  his  sleeves  high,  so  a  brawny 
arm  gleamed  in  the  bright  lamplight,  and  the  open 
shirt  exposed  a  powerful  neck.  Chester,  who  was 
of  slighter  build  and  not  as  tall  as  he  would  have 
liked  to  be,  watched  enviously. 

"Whatever  goes  wrong  with  your  affairs,  Red," 
he  observed  suddenly,  breaking  a  long  interval 
during  which  the  engine  had  been  made  to  throb 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  9 

and  whirl  like  the  "ten  thousand  furies"  to  whom 
its  engineer  had  lately  made  allusion,  "you  have 
the  tremendous  asset  of  a  magnificent  body  to 
fall  back  on  for  comfort." 

With  a  movement  of  the  hand  Burns  stopped 
his  engine,  now  running  quietly,  and  stood  up 
straight.  He  threw  out  one  bare  arm,  grimy  and 
oily  with  his  labours.  "Two  hours  ago,"  said 
he  in  a  voice  now  controlled  and  solemn,  "if  by 
cutting  off  that  right  arm  at  the  shoulder  I  could 
have  saved  a  human  life  I'd  have  done  it." 

"And  now,"  retorted  Chester  quickly,  "now, 
two  hours  after  —  would  you  cut  it  off 
now  ? " 

Red  Pepper  looked  at  him.  The  arm  dropped. 
"No,"  said  he,  "I  wouldn't.  Not  for  a  dozen 
lives  like  that.  I'm  not  heroic,  after  all  —  only 
hot  and  cold  by  jumps,  like  a  thermometer.  But 
I  ache  all  over,  just  the  same.  She  runs  like  a 
bird  now.  Jump  in  —  we'll  take  a  spin  and  try 
her  out  on  the  road.  I  may  need  her  before  mid 
night." 

Nothing  loth,  for  he  knew  the  Green  Imp  and 
her  driver  and  had  had  many  a  swift  run  on  a 
moonlight  night  before  in  the  same  company, 


RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Chester  took  the  slim  roadster's  other  Seat,watch- 
•ng  the  long  green  hood  point  the          down 

d 


.  P-  the  porch  where  the         nen     n 
wh,tegownsshowingcoollyinthe  "' 

-  lamp  at  the  corner  of  the  street,  cabled  a 

"Back  _some  time/,  rep]ied 
ns,ng   above   the   low  purr  of  the 

^"ctionini,     The  figure  Lidehtn 
1  -n  open,  whue  shirt,  with  bare    arms      nd 
uncovered,  thick  thatch  of  red  hai     did 
its  head  '  d'd  not  mrn 


™'- 

Doctor  Burns  is  certainly  the  oddest  man  I 

-r  saV'rephed  the  guest,  swi^J  7;  h 
hammock  and  watch;n    th£  S  7  -  *e 


and  watcng  th£  car  Qu 
the  long  v,sta  of  the  village  street.  "He  has!" 
g-ven  me  one  real  good  look  ye,  I  suppose  fl 
W"e  3  Patient  ««  -uld  favour  me  with  an  a  , 
«  -  those  Iis,S  cotch 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  ii 

has:  make  up  some  symptoms  and  go  over  to  his 
office." 

"  If  you  do  you'll  get  precisely  the  same  treat 
ment  I  presume  Arthur  had."  Mrs.  Chester 
laughed  as  she  spoke.  "I  doubt  very  much 
whether  he  comes  back  with  any  headache  medi 
cine." 

"  But  he  got  a  moonlight  ride  in  that  beauty  of 
a  car,"  the  guest  declared  enviously.  "That 
treatment  would  suit  me  wonderfully  well,  what 
ever  was  the  matter." 

"Would  you  have  gone  with  him  in  his  shirt 
sleeves  ?  He's  plainly  in  a  shirt-sleeve  mood 
to-night." 

"  I  think  a  drive  in  the  moonlight  with  a  '  brute 
of  a  saint'  in  shirt-sleeves,  with  arms  like  those, 
might  be  interesting,"  mused  the  guest,  indicating 
invisible  patterns  on  the  porch  with  the  toe  of  a 
white  slipper. 

"He  would  probably  talk  cars  and  engines 
every  mile  in  the  most  matter-of-fact  way,"  Wini 
fred  Chester  assured  her.  "No  woman  yet  has 
ever  been  able,  as  far  as  this  towrn  knows,  to 
strike  a  spark  of  romance  out  of  Red  Pepper 
Burns." 


12  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Yet  he  has  red  hair,"  murmured  the  guest  to 
herself,  and  continued  to  look  thoughtfully  down 
the  street  along  which  the  Green  Imp  had  shot  out 
toward  the  open  country  beyond. 

Out  in  that  open  country,  miles  away,  the  car 
running  with  that  exquisite  precision  of  rotating 
cylinder  explosions  which  is  music  to  the  trained 
ear  of  the  mechanic  at  the  wheel,  the  two  men  sat 
silent.  The  pace  of  the  Green  Imp  was  one  to  cut 
off  speech,  for  the  road  was  straight  and  empty, 
stretching  like  a  white  ribbon  under  the  stars, 
with  now  and  then  a  band  of  midnight  shade 
crossing  it  where  arching  tree-tops  met  —  the 
course  which  invites  an  open  throttle  and  the 
intent  eye  which  goes  with  it. 

Suddenly  the  car  struck  aside  from  the  straight 
away  and  with  open  cut-out  roared  up  a  steep 
hill  by  means  of  which  a  narrow  road  led  off 
toward  a  part  of  the  country  not  often  selected  by 
motorists  for  pleasure  spins.  Chester  recognized 
that  his  companion  had  a  purpose  beyond  that  of 
"trying  out"  his  engine,  unless,  indeed,  the  tough 
and  rocky  grade  were  a  test.  But  Burns 
was  still  silent,  and  the  other  man  applied 
himself  to  holding  on.  A  mile  up  the  road  the 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  13 

car    came  to  an  abrupt  standstill   before  a  tiny 
house. 

"Going  to  make  a  call,  after  all?"  was  on 
Chester's  lips,  but  the  sight  of  something,  showing 
white  beside  the  door  in  the  lamplight  which 
streamed  out  upon  a  small,  decrepit  porch,  drove 
back  the  words. 

Burns  left  a  silent  engine  and  strode  up  the 
straggling  path  with  the  light  tread  of  the  heavy 
man  whose  muscles  are  under  his  control.  He 
walked  in  at  the  open  door  without  knocking,  and 
Chester  caught  the  sharp  sound  of  a  woman's 
voice  at  a  tension,  saying:  "Oh,  Doctor!" 

It  seemed  to  him  an  hour,  though  by  his  watch 
it  was  but  nine  minutes,  that  he  sat  watching  the 
little  flimsy  streamer  of  white  flutter  to  and  fro 
in  the  lamplight,  his  heart  beating  heavily,  as  a 
father's  will  at  sight  of  the  sign  of  some  other 
man's  loss. 

At  the  end  of  those  interminable  nine  minutes 
Burns  was  back  again  in  the  car.  He  turned  the 
Green  Imp  about  as  quietly  as  if  she  were  a  cat 
stealing  out  of  the  yard,  and  sent  her  down  the 
rocky  road  at  her  slowest  speed.  At  the  bottom 
of  the  hill  he  broke  the  long  silence. 


14  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Couldn't  have  slept  an  hour  if  I  hadn't  come 
back,"  he  said  in  a  low  tone.     "Back  and  apolo 
gized  for  being  a  brute.     It's  eased  me  up  a  bit  — 
I  think  it's  eased  her,  too,  poor  soul." 

"Then  it  wasn't  losing  the  case "  Chester 

began  doubtfully.  He  was  never  sure  just  when 
it  was  safe  to  ask  Red  Pepper  questions,  but  he 
thought  it  seemed  safer  than  usual  now. 

"  No,  it  wasn't  losing  the  case,  though  that  was 
bad  enough.  It  was  losing  my  infernal  hair- 
trigger  of  a  temper  that's  been  cutting  in  like  a 
knife.  I  had  the  boy  where  he  ought  U)  get  well 
• —  if  they  followed  my  precautions  a  thousand 
times  repeated.  This  morning  his  heart  was  a 
whole  lot  stronger;  it  only  needed  time.  To 
night  his  mother  let  him  sit  up  —  in  spite  of  all 
I'd  threatened  her  with  if  she  did.  He  went  out 
like  a  snuffed  candle.  When  I  saw  it  I  was  so 
angry  with  her  I"  -he  thrust  up  one  hand  and 
ran  it  through  his  thick  locks  with  a  gesture  of 
savagery-  "I  let  loose  on  her  —  poor  soul - 
with  her  heart  already  broken.  He  was  the  only 
boy  —  of  course.  ...  I  ought  to  have  been 
shot  on  the  spot." 

He  sent  the  car  flying  down  the  road.      Chester 


HE  VOWS  A  VOW  15 

could  think  of  nothing  to  say.  He  could  imagine 
the  sort  of  apology  Red  had  given  the  boy's  mother 
—  one  to  make  her  forgive  and  adore  him.  No 
doubt  it  had  "eased  her."  It  must  have  been  a 
hard  thing  for  R.  P.  Burns,  M.D.,  to  do.  Sud 
denly  recalling  this  he  said  so,  and  added  a  word 
of  admiration.  Burns  turned  on  him. 

"Boy,"  he  said,  "I'm  the  toughest  case  on  my 
list.  I'm  a  chronic  patient.  Just  as  I  think  I 
have  myself  in  hand  I  suffer  a  relapse.  I  break 
out  in  a  new  place.  Of  all  men  who  need  self- 
control,  it's  a  surgeon  needs  it  most.  Sometimes, 
I'm  in  too  much  of  a  temper  to  operate  —  just 
because  a  nurse  has  failed  to  provide  the  right 
sutures.  Every  red  hair  on  my  head  stands  up 
like  a  porcupine's  quills  —  my  hand  isn't  steady  — 
I  can't  trust  my  own  judgment  —  till  I've  cooled 
down.  There's  only  one  hope  for  me  — 

He  broke  off  abruptly,  and  the  Green  Imp  ac 
celerated  her  pace  as  they  came  to  the  long, 
straight  road  home.  Until  they  reached  the  turn 
under  the  elms  which  led  to  the  town,  he  left  the 
sentence  unfinished,  while  Chester  waited.  Ches 
ter  felt  it  would  be  worth  waiting  for  —  that  which 
Red  Pepper  might  say  next.  When  it  came  it 


16  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

surprised  him  —  it  even  gave  him  a  strange  thrill 
-  coming  from  Red  Pepper. 

"I've  put  my  case  into  the  only  competent 
hands,"  said  Burns  slowly  and  quite  simply. 
"I've  promised  my  Maker  I'll  never  insult  His 
name  again." 


D 


CHAPTER  II 

IN    WHICH     HE     CREATES    A    CIRCUS 

OCTOR  BURNS " 


:Yes,  Miss  Mathewson." 
"The  long-distance  telephone,  please/' 
Burns   excused  himself  to  the  last  patient  of 
the  evening  series,  and  shut  himself  in  with  the 
long-distance.     When  he  came  out  he  was  looking 
at  his  watch.     From  its  face  he  turned  to  that  of 
his  office  nurse  —  the  one  hardly  less    business 
like  in  expression  than  the  other. 

"  Miss  Mathewson,  my  aunt  telephones  that  my 
father  and  mother  are  both  sick,  each  anxious  to 
distraction  about  the  other,  she  about  them  both, 
and  under  the  weather  herself.  If  you  and  I  can 
catch  the  ten-fifteen  to-night  we  can  be  there  by 
two,  and  by  leaving  there  at  four  we  can  be  back 
here  in  time  for  the  morning's  operations.  If 
they  need  you  I'll  leave  you  there  for  a  day  or 
two  —  by  your  leave.  We'll  take  the  Green  Imp 
into  the  city  —  the  ten-fifteen  doesn't  stop  here. 

13 


i8  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Then  it'll  be  at  the  hospital  when  we  want  it  in 
the  morning.  You've  twenty  minutes  to  get 
ready." 

"Very  well,  Doctor  Burns." 

The  office  bell  rang.  Burns  fled  toward  the 
inner  office.  Miss  Mathewson  discovered  the  guest 
of  the  Chesters  on  the  doorstep  —  all  in  white, 
with  a  face  which  usually  stimulated  interest 
wherever  it  was  seen. 

"May  I  see  Doctor  Burns  just  a  minute  —  for 
Mr.  Chester?"  The  caller  took  her  cue  cleverly 
from  Miss  Mathewson's  face,  which  at  the  moment 
expressed  schedules  and  engagements  thick  as 
blackberries  in  August.  Burns,  just  closing  the 
inner  door,  caught  Chester's  name.  He  pulled 
off  his  white  office  coat,  slid  into  his  gray  tweed 
one,  and  opened  the  door. 

"What  can  I  do  for  Mr.  Chester  —  in  three 
minutes?"  he  inquired,  coming  forward.  Miss 
Mathewson,  aware  of  the  shortness  of  time, 
vanished. 

"Give  me  something  for  his  headache,  please," 
replied  the  young  person  in  white  promptly. 
Schedules  and  engagements  were  in  R.  P.  Burns's 
eyes,  also;  they  looked  at  her  without  appearing 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  19 

to  see  her  at  all.  To  this  she  was  not  accustomed 
and  it  displeased  her. 

"Was  it  too  severe  for  him  to  come 
himself?" 

"Much  too  severe.  He  has  gone  to  bed  with 
it." 

"Mrs.  Chester  closely  attending  him?" 

"Certainly  —  or  I  shouldn't  be  here."  The 
eyes  of  the  Chesters'  guest  sparkled.  Something 
about  the  cool  tone  of  this  question  displeased  her 
still  more. 

"Tell  him  to  get  up  and  go  out  and  walk  a  mile, 
breathing  deep  all  the  way." 

"No  medicine?" 

"Not  a  grain.  He  ought  to  know  better  than 
to  ask." 

"He  does,  I  think.  He  suggested  that 

possibly  if  I  asked But  I  see  for  myself 

now  that  that  wouldn't  make  the  slightest 
difference." 

"I'm  glad  your  perceptions  are  so  acute," 
replied  Burns  gravely. 

"Are  the  three  minutes  up?"  asked  the 
caller. 

He  looked  at  his  watch.     "I  think  not  quite. 


20  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Is  there  anything  of  importance  to  fill  the  one  re 
maining?" 

"Nothing  whatever  —  except  to  mention  your 
fee."  The  guest  receded  gracefully  from  the 
door. 

"If  the  patient  will  follow  directions  I'll  ask 
no  fee.  If  he  doesn't  I'll  exact  one  when  I  see 
him  again.  Forgive  my  haste,  Miss  —  Hal- 
stead?" 

"Hempstead,"  corrected  the  caller  crisply. 
"Don't  mention  it,  Doctor  —  Brown.  Good 
night." 

The  Chesters'  guest  lingered  on  the  porch  be 
fore  going  in  to  report  the  failure  of  her  mission. 
She  was  still  lingering  there  when  the  Green  Imp, 
carrying  no  open-shirted  mechanic,  but  a  properly 
clothed  professional  gentleman  and  a  severely 
dressed  professional  lady,  whirled  away  down 
the  drive. 

"He  really  was  going  somewhere  in  a  hurry, 
then,"  admitted  the  guest.  "In  which  case  I 
can't  be  quite  so  offended.  I  wonder  if  that 
nurse  enjoys  her  trips  with  him  —  when  his  mouth 
doesn't  happen  to  be  shut  like  a  steel  trap." 

If  she  could  have  seen  the  pair  on  the  train 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  21 

which  presently  bore  them  flying  away  across  the 
state,  she  would  hardly  have  envied  either  of  them. 
Between  abstraction  on  the  one  side  and  reserve 
on  the  other,  they  exchanged  less  conversation 
than  two  strangers  might  have  done.  When  Miss 
Mathewson's  eyes  drooped  with  weariness  her  com 
panion  made  her  as  comfortable  as  he  could  and 
bade  her  rest.  His  own  eyes  were  untouched  by 
slumber:  he  stared  straight  before  him  or  out  into 
the  night,  seeing  nothing  but  a  white  farmhouse 
far  ahead,  where  his  anxious  thoughts  were  wait 
ing  for  his  body  to  catch  up. 

"Are  they  much  sick,  Zeke  ?" 

"Wai,  I  dunno  hardly,  Red. — You  goin'  to 
drive  ?  They're  pretty  lively,  them  blacks.  Ain't 
used  to  comin'  to  the  station  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
mornin'. — Your  ma's  been  worryin'  about  your 
pa  for  a  consid'able  spell,  and  now  that  she's 
took  down  so  severe  herself  he's  gone  to  pieces 
some.  Miss  Ellen'll  be  glad  to  see  you." 

The  blacks  covered  the  mile  from  the  station 
as  they  had  never  covered  it  before,  and  Burns 
was  in  the  house  five  minutes  before  they  had 
expected  him. 


22  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Mother,  here's  your  big  boy. —  Dad,  here  I 
am  —  here's  Red.  Bless  your  hearts  —  you 
wanted  me,  didn't  you?" 

They  could  hardly  tell  him  how  they  had  wanted 
him,  but  he  saw  it  in  their  faces. 

"  I've  got  to  take  the  four  o'clock  back  —  worse 
luck! — for  some  operations  I  can't  postpone. 
But  between  now  and  then  I'm  going  to  look  you 
over  and  set  you  straight,  and  I'll  be  back  again 
in  two  days  if  you  need  me.  Now  for  it.  Mother 
first.  Come  here,  Aunt  Ellen,  and  tell  me  all 
about  her." 

R.  P.  Burns,  M.D.,  had  never  been  quicker 
nor  more  thorough  at  examination  of  a  pair  of 
patients  than  with  these.  He  went  straight  at 
them  both,  each  in  the  presence  of  the  other,  Miss 
Mathewson  capably  assisting.  With  his  most 
professional  air  he  asked  his  questions,  applied 
his  trained  senses  to  the  searching  tests  made 
of  special  organs,  and  gave  directions  for  future 
treatment.  Then  he  sat  back  and  looked  at 
them. 

"Do  I  appear  worried  about  her,  Dad?" 

"Why,  you  don't  seem  to,  Red." 

"Miss    Mathewson,   should    you    gather   from 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  23 

my  appearance  that  I  am  consumed  with 
anxiety  ?" 

"I  think  you  seem  very  much  relieved.  Doctor 
Burns." 

"Mother,  as  you  look  at  Dad  over  on  the  couch 
there,  does  he  strike  you  as  appearing  like  a 
frightfully  sick  man  ?" 

Mrs.  Burns  smiled  faintly  in  the  direction  of 
the  couch,  but  her  eyes  came  immediately  back  to 
her  son's.  "He  seems  a  good  deal  better  since 
you  came,  Redfield." 

"There's  not  a  thing  the  matter  with  either  of 
you  except  what  can  be  fixed  up  in  a  week.  You've 
got  scared  to  death  about  each  other,  and  that's 
pulled  you  both  down.  What  you  need  more  than 
anything  else  is  to  go  to  a  circus  —  and,  by  George! — 
since  I  didn't  observe  any  tents  in  the  darkness  as 
we  drove  along,  you  shall  have  one  come  to  you. 
Look  here!  Did  you  know  I'd  kept  up  my  old 
athletic  stunts  these  nine  years  since  I  left  col 
lege?" 

He  pulled  off  his  coat,  waistcoat,  collar,  shoes, 
rolled  his  shirt-sleeves  as  high  as  they  would  go, 
and  turned  a  series  of  handsprings  across  the 
wide  room.  Then  he  stood  on  his  head;  he  bal- 


24  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

anced  chairs  on  his  chin;  he  seized  his  father's 
hickory  stick  and  went  through  a  set  of  military 
evolutions.  Then  he  put  on  his  shoes,  eyeing 
his  patients  with  satisfaction.  His  mother  had 
lifted  her  head  to  watch  him,  and  Miss  Mathewson 
had  tucked  an  extra  pillow  under  it.  His  father 
had  drawn  himself  up  to  a  half-sitting  posture  and 
was  regarding  his  son  with  pride. 

"  I  never  thought  so  well  of  those  doings  before," 
he  was  saying.  "If  they've  kept  you  as  supple  as 
a  willow,  in  spite  of  your  weight,  I  should  say 
you'd  better  keep  'em  up." 

"You  bet  I  will!  —  See  here,  Aunt  Ellen— you 
used  to  play  the  'Irish  Washerwoman.'  Mind 
playing  it  now  ?  Miss  Mathewson  and  I  are 
going  to  do  a  cakewalk." 

He  glanced,  laughing,  at  his  office  nurse.  She 
was  staring  at  him  wide-eyed.  He  threw  back 
his  head,  showing  a  splendid  array  of  white  teeth 
as  he  roared  at  her  expression. 

"Forget  ' Doctor  Burns  J  please,"  said  he,  in 
answer  to  the  expression.  "He's  discharged  this 
case  as  not  serious  enough  for  him,  and  left  it  to 
Red  Pepper  to  administer  a  few  gentle  stimulants 
on  the  quack  order.  Come!  You  can  do  a  cake- 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  25 

walk!  Forget  you're  a  graduate  of  any  training 
school  but  the  vaudeville  show!" 

He  caught  her  hand.  Flushing  so  that  her  plain 
face  became  almost  pretty,  she  yielded  —  for  the 
hand  was  insistent.  Miss  Ellen  leaned  bewildered 
against  the  door  which  led  to  the  sitting-room 
where  the  old  piano  stood.  Her  nephew  looked 
at  her  again,  with  the  eyes  which  the  Chesters' 
guest  had  somewhat  incoherently  described  as 
."Irish-Scotch-barbarian."  He  said,  "Please, 
Aunt  Ellen,  there's  a  good  fellow,"  at  which  Mr. 
Burns,  Senior,  chuckled  under  his  breath;  for 
anything  less  like  that  of  a  "good  fellow"  was 
never  seen  than  Sister  Ellen's  prim  little  person 
ality.  Miss  Ellen  went  protestingly  to  the  piano. 
Was  it  right,  her  manner  said,  to  be  performing  in 
this  idiotic  manner  at  this  unholy  hour  of  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  —  in  a  sick-room? 

It  mattered  little  whether  Miss  Mathewson  could 
or  could  not  dance  the  "Irish  Washerwoman," 
or  any  other  antic  dance  improvised  to  that  live 
air;  she  had  only  to  yield  herself  to  Red  Pepper 
Burns's  hands  and  steps,  and  let  him  disport 
himself  around  her.  A  most  startlingly  hilarious 
performance  was  immediately  and  effectively 


26  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

produced.  At  the  height  of  it,  a  door  across  the 
sitting-room,  which  commanded  a  strip  of  the 
bedroom  beyond,  opened  cautiously  and  Zeke 
Crandall's  eye  glued  itself  to  the  aperture,  an  eye 
astonished  beyond  belief. 

"If  that  there  Red  ain't  a-cuttin'  up  jest  exactly 
as  he  used  to  when  he  was  a  boy  —  and  his  pa 
and  ma  sick  a-bed!  If  'twas  anybody  but  Red 
I'd  say  he  was  crazy." 

Then  he  caught  the  sound  of  a  laugh  from  lips 
he  had  not  heard  laugh  like  that  for  a  year  —  a 
chuckling,  delighted  laugh,  only  slightly  asthmatic 
and  wholly  unrestrained.  He  began  to  laugh 
himself. 

"If  folks  round  here  could  see  Red  Burns  now 
they'd  never  believe  the  stories  about  his  gettin' 
to  be  such  a  darned  successful  man  at  his  busi 
ness,"  he  reflected.  "Of  all  the  goin's  on!  Look 
at  him  now!  An*  that  nurse!  An'  Miss  Ellen 
a-playin'  for  'em!  Oh,  my  eye!" 

Songs  followed  —  college  songs,  popular  airs, 
opera  bits  —  all  delivered  in  a  resounding  bary 
tone  and  accompanied  by  thumping  chords  im 
provised  by  the  performer.  Out  through  the  open 
windows  they  floated,  and  one  astonished  villager 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  27 

driving  by  to  take  the  early  train  caught  the  exult 
ant  strains: 

"Oh,   see  dat  watermillion  a-smilin'  fro'  de  fence, 

How  I  wish  dat  watermillion  it  was  mine. 
Oh,  de  white  folks  must  be  foolish, 
Dey  need  a  heap  of  sense, 

Or  dey'd  nebber  leave  it  dar  upon  de  vine! 

Oh,  de  ham-bone  am  sweet, 

An'  de  bacon  am  good, 

An'  de  'possum  fat  am  berry,  berry  fine; 
But  gib  me,  yes,  gib  me, 
Oh,  how  I  wish  you  would, 

Dat  watermillion  growin'  on  de  vine!" 

Before  they  knew  it  the  early  morning  light  was 
creeping  in  at  the  small-paned  windows.  Burns 
consulted  his  watch. 

"If  you'll  give  us  a  cup  of  coffee,  Aunt  Ellen, 
we'll  be  off  in  fifteen  minutes.  Miss  Mathewson" — 
his  glance  mirthfully  surveyed  her  —  "Aunt 
Ellen  will  take  you  upstairs  and  give  you  a  chance 
to  put  that  magnificent  brown  hair  into  a  condition 
where  it  will  not  shock  the  natives  at  the  station. 
As  for  mine  - 

When  Aunt  Ellen  and  Miss  Mathewson,  each 
in  her  own  way  feeling  as  if  she  had  passed  through 
an  extraordinary  experience  likely  never  to  occur 


28  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

again,  had  hurried  away,  Burns  applied  himself 
to  a  process  of  reconstruction.  When  every  rebel 
lious  red  hair  had  been  reduced  to  its  usual  order 
and  his  thick  locks  lay  with  the  little  wave  in  them 
as  his  mother  had  begun  to  brush  them  years  ago; 
when  collar  and  cravat  rose  sedately  above 
the  gray  tweed  coat,  and  a  fresh,  fine  handkerchief 
had  replaced  the  dingy  one  which  had  been 
through  every  manner  of  exercise  in  the  "  circus," 
Burns  drew  up  a  chair  and  faced  his  patients  with 
the  keen,  professional  gaze  which  told  him  whether 
or  not  his  night's  work  had  been  good  therapeutics. 

"When  I've  gone  you're  to  have  breakfast, 
and  I  think  you'll  both  eat  it,"  he  said,  smiling  at 
them,  his  eyes  bright  with  affection  and  content 
ment.  "Then  you're  to  compose  yourselves  for 
sleep,  and  I  think  you'll  both  sleep.  To-morrow 
Dad's  to  be  out  on  the  porch  —  all  June  is  out 
there,  and  the  roses  are  in  full  bloom.  Day  after 
to-morrow  Mother'll  be  there,  too,  in  the  ham 
mock.  As  soon  as  these  cases  I  operate  on  this 
morning  are  out  of  danger  I'll  be  down  again  for 
a  whole  day.  I'll  keep  the  time  clear." 

"I'm  afraid,"  said  his  father,  looking  suddenly 
anxious  for  a  new  cause,  "your  being  up  all  night 


HE  CREATES  A  CIRCUS  29 

won't  make  your  hand   any  steadier  for  those 
operations,  Red." 

"On  the  contrary,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Dad, 
it'll  be  a  lot  steadier  just  because  of  my  being  up 
all  night,  assuring  myself  that  there's  nothing 
serious  the  matter  with  you  and  Mother,  except 
the  need  of  a  bit  of  jollying  by  your  boy  —  which 
you've  certainly  had  right  off  the  reel,  eh  ?  Aunt 
Ellen  thinks  yet  I've  probably  killed  you.  Are 
you  the  worse  for  it,  Mother?  Give  it  to  me 
straight,  now!" 

He  bent  over  her,  his  fingers  on  her  delicate 
wrist.  She  smiled  up  into  his  eyes.  "Redfield!" 
she  murmured.  "As  if  I  could  ever  be  the  worse 
for  having  you  come  home!" 

He  dropped  on  his  knees  beside  the  bed,  looking 
at  her  with  the  eyes  of  the  boy  she  had  borne. 
"Bless  me,  Mother,"  he  said  unsteadily,  all  the 
fun  gone  out  of  his  face.  "I  —  need  it  —  to 
keep  decent." 

The  last  three  words  were  under  his  breath, 
but  she  heard  the  others  and  laid  her  hand  on  the 
red  head  with  a  tremulous  soft  word  or  two  which 
he  could  barely  catch. 

In  a  minute  he  had  risen,  his  cheek  flushed 


30  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

high,  and  was  gripping  his  father's  hand.  "You, 
too,  Dad,"  he  begged.  "I'm  only  Red  this 
morning  —  going  back  into  the  world." 

His  father's  hand  and  voice  shook  as  he  admin 
istered  the  little  ceremony,  used  only  once  before  in 
his  son's  life  —  when  at  fourteen  he  first  went 
away  to  school.  Few  grown  men  would  have  asked 
for  it  again,  he  felt  that.  Coming  from  Red  he 
was  sure  the  request  meant  more  than  they  could 
know. 

Then  the  professional  gentleman  whom  the 
world  knew  —  the  world  which  was  not  acquaint 
ed  with  Red  Pepper  Burns  —  and  the  professional 
lady  who  was  his  assistant  went  decorously  away 
into  the  early  June  morning.  Zeke  was  grinning 
to  himself  as  he  saw  them  step  aboard  the  train. 

"Looks  mighty  fine  in  them  clipper-built  city 
clothes,  Red  does,"  he  reflected.     "If  that  there 
young  woman  chose  to  give  him  away,  now  - 
but  I  kind  of  guess  she  won't  —  under  the  cir 
cumstances!" 


CHAPTER  III 

IN  WHICH  HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY 

RED,  the  new  car  is  here.     Come  and  look 
her  over." 

It  was*  Burns's  neighbour  on  the  other  side, 
James  Macauley,  Junior.  R.  P.  Burns  laid  down 
his  saw,  with  which  in  the  late  June  twilight  he 
had  been  doing  vigorous  work  at  a  small  woodpile 
behind  the  house.  He  stood  up  straight,  throwing 
back  his  shoulders  to  take  the  kink  out  of  them. 

"All  right,"  said  he.  "I  think  I'm  fit  for 
general  society  again.  I  wasn't  when  I  tackled 
this  job.  Nothing  like  fifteen  minutes  of  wood 
pile  for  taking  the  temper  out  of  the  saw  —  and 
the  man." 

Macauley,  a  stout,  good-humoured  fellow  of 
thirty-five,  laughed.  "That  temper  of  yours, 
Red  —  has  it  been  on  the  rampage  again?" 

"It  has.  Don't  talk  about  it  or  it'll  lift  its 
confounded  red  head  again  —  it's  only  scotched 
for  the  present.  New  car's  here,  eh?" 

31 


32  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Yes,  and  the  pretty  widow's  here,  too  —  my 
wife's  sister,  Ellen  Lessing.  We've  a  great  plan 
for  to-morrow,  Red.  I  can't  venture  to  drive 
this  elephant  of  a  car  yet,  but  the  women  are 
wild  for  a  trip  in  her.  She  holds  seven.  Martha 
wants  you  to  drive  us  and  the  Chesters  to-morrow 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  —  seventy-five  to  F  - 
and  back.  Will  you  do  it  ?  You're  not  so  horri 
bly  busy  just  now,  and  Mrs.  Lessing  and  Pauline 
Hempstead  together  ought  to  make  it  worth  while 
for  you." 

This  feature  of  the  invitation  did  not  appear  to 
appeal  to  Burns,  but  the  sight  of  the  touring  car, 
brave  and  shining  in  russet  and  brass,  plainly  did. 

"Not  that  I'd  care  to  drive  such  a  whale  for 
myself,  but  I  shouldn't  mind  a  run  for  the  fun 
of  trying  her  out.  You  say  she's  been  driven 
enough  to  warm  up  her  engines  ?  Suppose  we 
take  her  out  and  let  me  get  the  feel  of  her  mouth 
before  to-morrow?" 

"Come  on."     And  they  were  off. 

"For  a  whale  she's  a  bird,"  was  Burns's  para 
doxical  verdict  two  hours  later.  The  "  trying  out" 
had  merged  into  a  smooth  run  of  forty-five  miles 
at  not  anything  like  the  full  pace  of  which  the 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      33 

motor  was  capable.  "Best  not  to  overheat  her 
at  first.  Run  your  first  three  hundred  miles  with 
consideration  for  her  vital  organs  —  she'll  have 
her  wind  by  that  time." 

Next  morning  four  women,  long-coated,  tissue- 
veiled,  watched  the  brown  beauty  roll  invitingly 
up  to  Macauley's  porch  steps. 

As  she  crossed  the  lawn  with  Winifred,  Pauline 
Hempstead,  the  guest  of  the  Chesters,  was  study 
ing  not  only  the  car,  but  the  undeniably  attractive 
gray-clad  figure  of  the  lately-arrived  younger  sister 
of  Mrs.  Macauley.  "Will  Red  P.  look  at  her  any 
more  than  he  does  at  me?"  she  murmured  in 
Winifred  Chester's  ear. 

"I  doubt  it,  my  dear.  But  he'll  be  foolish  if 
he  doesn't,  won't  he?" 

"  I  don't  care  for  widows  myself." 

"I  presume  not."  Winifred  laughed  compre- 
hendingly. 

"How  old  is  she?" 

"  Twenty-eight,  I  believe  —  though  she  doesn't- 
look  it." 

"Doesn't  look  it!     She  looks  a  lot  more." 

Winifred  laughed  still,  quietly.  Although  Paul 
ine  undoubtedly  had  the  advantage  of  Ellen  in 


34  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

years,  her  fair-haired,  blue-eyed,  somewhat  sump 
tuous  beauty  was  not  of  so  youthful  a  type  as 
the  darker  colouring  and  slenderer  outlines  of 
Martha's  sister. 

The  man  at  the  wheel  of  the  brown  car  lifted 
his  leather  cap  as  the  women  came  out,  but  he 
left  all  the  bestowal  of  them  to  the  other  men. 
Miss  Hempstead  asked  to  be  allowed  to  sit  be 
side  the  driver,  but  Macauley  vowed  that  on  the 
first  long  run  of  his  new  machine  he  himself 
should  occupy  that  post  of  honour  and  interest. 

"Coming  back,  then,"  insisted  the  girl,  and 
Macauley  agreed  reluctantly.  Burns  made  no 
comment,  but  applied  himself  to  his  task  —  not 
only  then,  but  also  for  every  minute  of  the 
seventy-five  miles  to  their  destination. 

"He  might  as  well  be  a  hired  chauffeur,"  com 
plained  Miss  Hempstead  when,  during  a  stop  of 
ten  minutes  on  account  of  a  switching  freight 
train,  she  had  leaned  forward  and  attempted  in 
vain  to  carry  on  a  conversation  with  Burns. 
"That  abstracted  mood  of  his — is  there  any 
breaking  into  it  ?" 

"Fall  out  and  break  your  collar-bone.  He'll 
be  all  attention,"  advised  Chester. 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY       35 

"Thank  you.  I'm  almost  tempted  to.  Why 
don't  you  drive  awhile,  Mr.  Macauley,  and  give 

him  a  rest?" 

"And  let  him  sit  here  in  the  middle  with  you  ? 

He  couldn't  be  pried  loose  from  that  wheel  now. 
Besides,  I  haven't  driven  this  car  yet,  and  she's 
too  different  in  her  steering  from  my  old  one. 
I  shouldn't  like  to  try  with  this  crowd  behind 
me." 

They  reached  the  distant  city;  drew  up  at  the 
steps  of  the  most  attractive  hotel;  went  in  to  lunch. 
That  is  to  say,  all  did  this  except  R.  P.  Burns. 
He  remained  in  the  garage  in  the  rear  where  he 
had  taken  the  car,  busying  himself  with  some 
details  of  mechanism  whose  working  did  not  quite 
suit  him.  In  spite  of  summons  and  appeals  he 
continued  to  work  until  the  rest  had  finished; 
then  he  bolted  in  to  wash  off  dust  and  engine 
grease,  ate  his  lunch  in  ten  minutes  —  Macauley 
sitting  by  and  expostulating  —  and  bolted  out 
again. 

"We're  going  to  walk  about  a  bit,"  Chester 
announced,  invading  the  garage.  "The  girls  in 
sist  that  you  come.  Where  are  your  eyes,  man  ? 
If  Pauline  bores  you  —  I  admit  that  she's  a  trifle 


36  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

persistent,  but  she's  jolly  good  company,  /  think 
• —  try  Mrs.  Lessing.  She's  delightful,  and  not  the 
pursuing  style  at  all  —  she's  learned  better.  She 
hasn't  shown  the  slightest  interest  in  you  all 
morning.  That  ought  to  attract  you." 

"I'm  going  to  try  a  bit  of  adjustment  on  this 
timer  —  now  that  Mac's  out  of  the  way.  Go 
along,  and  don't  bother  me."  Burns  was  in  his 
shirt-sleeves  again  and  spoke  gruffly.  His  cap 
was  off,  and  thick  locks  lay  damply  against  his 
moist  brow;  in  his  eyes  sparkled  enthusiasm  - 
but  not  for  women. 

"You  certainly  are  a  hopeless  case,"  and  Chester 
went  back  to  his  party. 

"We  might  as  well  not  have  a  bachelor  along," 
mourned  Pauline.  "  Four  women  —  with  only 
two  old  married  men  to  look  after  them  —  it's  a 
shame." 

"  But  we're  both  of  us  much  handsomer  than 
Red  Pepper  Burns,"  asserted  James  Macauley, 
Junior.  "And  I've  hardly  spoken  a  word  to  my 
wife  since  I  started  —  that  sort  of  thing  ought  to 
content  you." 

"It  doesn't.  And  neither  of  you  is  half  as 
good-looking  as  Doctor  Burns.  He  has  the  most 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      37 

interesting  profile  I  ever  saw  —  and  I  ought  to 
know  —  I  seldom  catch  sight  of  his  full 
face." 

"I  shouldn't  suppose  an  interesting  profile, 
whatever  that  is,  would  offset  a  shock,  of  fire-red 
hair.  Now,  both  Chester's  hair  and  mine  - 

"His  hair  isn't  fire-red.  It's  a  —  rather 
strong  —  auburn." 

Macauley  shouted  and  the  rest  laughed  with 
him. 

"Rather  strong!  I  should  say  it  was.  I've 
been  worried  about  having  him  sit  near  the  gaso 
line  tank,  it  brings  his  hair  so  close  to  a  high  com 
bustible.  But  it  has  one  advantage:  if  we  don't 
get  home  before  dark  we  shan't  need  to  light  up. 
Red's  torch  of  a  head  will  do  the  trick;  we  can 
come  in  by  the  refulgence  from  that." 

"I  shall  be  sitting  in  its  light  going  back,  any 
how,"  Miss  Hempstead  exulted. 

"  Much  good  it  will  do  you,"  prophesied  Chester. 

It  did  Pauline  so  much  good  as  that  she  was 
able  to  obtain  many  looks  at  the  profile  she  ad 
mired,  for  she  saw  it  clean-cut  against  the  passing 
landscape  for  the  sixty  miles  of  daylight  out  of 
the  seventy-five  miles  home,  while  she  sat  beside 


38  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

its  owner  and  tried  many  times  to  draw  him  into 
talk.  His  taciturnity  on  this  particular  day  was 
a  thing  beyond  any  experience  with  it  she  had  yet 
had.  She  had  heard  Burns  talk,  and  talk  well,  on 
many  different  subjects,  the  while  he  sat  upon  the 
Chesters'  porch  of  a  summer  evening,  the  three  of 
them  about  him,  and  he  had  seemed  to  enjoy 
talking.  He  certainly  could  not  be  wholly  occu 
pied  with  the  machine,  for  at  no  time  did  he  let 
the  engine  out  for  what  it  could  do,  but  contented 
himself  with  a  steady,  moderate  pace  very  different 
from  the  sort  of  furious  speed  in  which  he  and 
the  Green  Imp  were  accustomed  to  indulge  when 
occasion  offered.  Altogether  he  presented  to 
the  girl  a  problem  which  she  could  not  solve  and 
was  never  further  from  solving  than  during  the 
seventy-five  miles  she  sat  beside  him  on  the  run 
home. 

"You're  all  to  come  in  and  have  an  ice-cool, 
salad-y  supper  with  us,"  Mrs.  Macauley  declared 
as  the  car  turned  in  at  the  home  driveway.  "  Hot 
coffee,  too,  if  you  want  it  —  or  even  beefsteak 
if  you  prefer.  But  I  thought  since  it  was  so 
hot  -  -  " 

"I'll    take    the    beefsteak,"    announced  Burns 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      39 

over  his  shoulder,  "if  I  find  nothing  urgent  for 
me  to  do.     If  there's  a  call " 

"If  there  is,  make  it,  and  you  shall  have  the 
beefsteak  when  you  get  back/'  Martha  promised 
him.  Mrs.  Macauley  was  of  the  sort  of  young 
married  woman  who  delights  to  make  her  friends 
comfortable  —  and  none  better  than  Red  Pepper, 
who  was  her  husband's  most  valued  friend,  as  he 
was  that  of  his  neighbour  on  the  other  side,  Arthur 
Chester. 

To  everybody's  regret  the  call  was  waiting,  and 
as  the  party  went  in  to  supper  they  waved  their 
hands  at  the  Green  Imp  flying  away  down  the 
road.  It  was  not  till  long  after  the  "ice-cool, 
salad-y  supper"  was  ended  and  the  women,  freshly 
clad,  were  sitting  on  the  porch  again,  the  men 
smoking  on  the  steps  below  them,  that  the  Green 
Imp  came  back. 

Ten  minutes  later  a  large  figure  crossed  the 
lawn  at  a  pace  which  suggested  both  reluctance  and 
fatigue. 

"  If  it  hadn't  been   for  that   beefsteak " 

Burns  began. 

"You  wouldn't  have  come,"  finished  Macauley. 
"Oh,  we  know  that!  Go  in  and  get  it,  Red,  and 


40  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

perhaps  afterward  the  charms  of  human  society 
will  have  their  inning." 

Whether  or  not  the  beefsteak  made  the  differ 
ence,  a  change  had  taken  place  when  R.  P.  Burns 
at  length  returned  to  the  comforts  of  the  porch. 
He  threw  himself  upon  a  crimson  cushion  on  the 
upper  step,  precisely  at  the  feet,  as  it  chanced, 
of  Ellen  Lessing.  As  he  leaned  comfortably  back 
against  the  porch  pillar  he  looked  directly  up  into 
her  face,  his  eyes  meeting  hers  with  an  odd,  search 
ing  expression  as  if  he  now  saw  her  for  the  first 
time.  Pauline,  gazing  enviously  across,  saw  the 
black  eyes  meet  the  hazel  ones  in  the  dim  light, 
and  noted  that  a  curiously  long  look  was  ex 
changed  —  the  sort  of  look  which  denotes  that 
two  people  are  observing  each  other  closely,  with 
out  attempt  at  producing  an  impression,  only  at 
discovering  what  is  there. 

But  when  Burns  began  to  talk  he  appeared  to 
address  the  midsummer  night  air,  staring  off  into 
it  and  speaking  rather  low,  so  that  they  all  leaned 
forward  to  listen.  For,  at  last,  he  seemed  to  have 
something  other  than  motor  cars  upon  his  mind. 

"He's  a  mighty  taking  little  chap,"  he  said 
musingly.  "Curly  black  hair,  eyes  like  coals- 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      41 

with  a  fringe  around  'em  like  a  hedge.  Cheeks 
none  too  round  —  but  milk  and  eggs  and  good 
red  steaks  will  take  care  of  that.  A  body  like  a 
cherub's  — when  it's  rilled  out  a  bit." 

"What  in  the  name  of  gibberish  are  you  giving 
us,  Red?"  inquired  Macauley. 

"Name's  « Bob,'"  went  on  Red  Pepper.  "By 
all  the  odd  chances!  That's  what  decided  me. 
*  Bobby  Burns'  -  —  it  was  the  last  straw!" 

"Is  he  crazy?"  asked  Chester  of  the  company. 
They  seemed  undecided.  They  were  listening 
closely. 

"Clothes  —  one  pair  of  patched  breeches  — 
remember  '  Little  Breeches,'  Ches  ?  —  one  faded 
flannel  shirt  —  mended  till  there  wasn't  much 
left  to  mend.  A  straw  hat  with  a  fringe  around 
it  —  uneven  fringe.  Inside  —  a  heartache  as  big 
as  a  little  fellow  could  carry  and  stagger  under 
it.  Think  of  having  the  heartache  —  at  five  — - 
and  for  your  grandmother!" 

"Why  for  his  grandmother?"  asked  Winifred 
Chester. 

"Because  there  wasn't  anybody  else  to  have  it 
for.  Rest  all  gone,  grandmother  the  one  who 
mended  the  breeches  and  patched  the  shirt,  and 


42  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

went  without  food  herself  lest  the  boy's  cheeks 
get  thinner  yet.  That  was  what  fixed  her  at  last 
—  she  hadn't  enough  vitality  to  pull  her  through." 

"So  that  was  the  matter  with  you  to-day," 
hazarded  Chester.  "Worried  about  your  patient 
all  day  and  found  you'd  lost  her  when  you  got 
back?" 

Burns  turned  upon  him  with  a  characteristic 
flash.  "You  go  join  the  ranks  of  the  snap-shots. 
They  sometimes  miss  fire.  No,  I  didn't.  I'd 
lost  her  before  I  went  or  I  wouldn't  have  gone, 
not  for  you  or  any  other  box-party.  It  was  the 
kiddie  that  was  on  my  mind  —  as  I'd  seen  him 
last." 

"Where  is  he  now?"  asked  Martha  Macauley 
urgently.  She  was  the  mother  of  two  small  sons, 
and  Burns's  sketch  had  interested  her. 

He  looked  up  at  her.     "Want  to  see  him  ?" 

"  Of  course  I  do.  Did  you  take  him  to  some 
body  in  town  ?  Are  you  going  to  send  him  to  the 
asylum  in  the  city  ?" 

"Do  you  want  to  see  him?"  Burns  inquired 
of  Winifred  Chester.  He  rose. 

"  Red !  What  do  you  mean  ?  Have  you  got 
a  child  here  ? " 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      43 

"  Come  along,  all  of  you,  if  you  like.  He  won't 
wake  up.  He's  sleeping  like  a  top  —  can't  help 
it,  with  all  that  bread  and  milk  inside  of  him. 
Part  cream  it  was,  too.  I  saw  Cynthia  chucking 
it  in.  He'd  got  her,  good  and  plenty,  in  the  first 
five  minutes.  Bless  her  susceptible  heart!  Come 
on." 

"Talk  of  susceptible  hearts,"  jeered  Macauley 
as  he  followed.  "There's  the  softest  one  in  the 
county." 

"Nobody  would  ever  guess  it,"  murmured 
Pauline  Hempstead. 

They  tiptoed  into  the  house,  across  the  offices 
into  the  big,  square  room  which  was  Burns's  own. 
He  switched  on  a  hooded  reading-light  beside  the 
bed  and  turned  it  so  that  its  rays  fell  on  the  small 
occupant. 

He  lay  in  spread-eagle,  small-child  fashion, 
arms  and  legs  thrown  wide,  the  black,  curly  head 
disdaining  the  pillow,  one  fist  clutching  a  man's 
riding-crop.  In  sleep  the  little  face  was  an  ex 
quisite  one;  the  onlookers  might  guess  what  it 
would  be  awake. 

Burns  pointed  at  the  crop,  smiling.  "'That 
was  the  nearest  approach  to  a  plaything  I  could 


44  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

muster  to-night.  To-morrow  the  shops  will  help 
me  out." 

"Til  send  over  plenty  in  the  morning,  Red," 
whispered  Martha  Macauley.  Her  eyes  were 
suspiciously  shiny. 

"Did  you  bring  him  home  just  now?"  ques 
tioned  Winifred. 

Burns  nodded.  "I  hadn't  meant  to  get  him 
to-night,  if  I  did  at  all.  My  call  took  me  within 
half  a  mile.  I  went  over  and  saw  him  again. 
That  settled  it." 

The  small  sleeper  stirred,  sighed.  Burns  turned 
off  the  light  in  a  twinkling.  "He's  not  used  to 
electricity  point  blank,"  he  chuckled. 

Going  down  the  steps  a  hand  touched  his  arm. 
He  looked  into  Ellen  Lessing's  upturned  face  and 
discovered  anew  that  it  was  a  face  to  hold  the 
attention  of  a  man.  But  there  was  no  coquetry 
in  it.  Instead,  he  saw  a  stirred  look  in  eyes  which 
struck  him  suddenly  as  singularly  like  those  of 
the  child  he  had  just  shown  her,  "black,  with  a 
fringe  around  'em." 

"Doctor  Burns,"  she  said,  "will  you  give  me 
the  very  great  pleasure  of  dressing  the  boy  ?  I 
know  how  to  do  it." 


HE  ASSUMES  A  RESPONSIBILITY      45 

"Of  course,  if  you  want  to,"  he  responded 
gladly.  "I  hoped  you  ladies  would  look  after 
that." 

"Let  me  do  it  alone,"  she  urged.  "They  have 
their  children:  it  would  only  be  a  task  to  them. 
To  me  —  I  can't  tell  you  what  a  delight  it  would 
be." 

"  I'll  take  you  and  Bob  to  the  city  in  the  morning 

•r  MI  " 

it  you  11  go. 

"It  will  be  a  happy  morning  for  Bob  and  me, 
then,"  she  answered,  and  he  saw  it  in  her  face 
that  it  would  be.  But  he  felt  that  it  was  because 
of  the  boy;  not  for  any  other  reason.  It  occurred 
to  him  that  it  might  possibly  be  a  happy  morning 
for  the  driver  of  the  Green  Imp,  also. 

"So  Ellen's  going  to  dress  the  brat."  Macau- 
ley  was  strolling  over  the  lawn  with  Chester  and 
Burns,  as,  having  out-sat  the  women  on  the  Macau- 
ley  porch,  the  men  were  turning  bedward,  reluc-. 
tant  to  leave  the  cool  starshine  of  the  July  night. 
"It's  easy  to  see  why  she  wants  to  do  that.  Her 
three-year-old  boy  would  have  been  just  about 
this  Bob's  age  by  now.  Tough  luck,  wasn't  it  ? 
—  when  he  was  all  she  had  left  since  Jack  got  out 
of  the  game?" 


46  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Burns  stared  at  him.  "Oh,  that's  why?  I 
didn't  know  about  her  boy,  or  I'd  forgotten  it  if 
I  was  ever  told.  She  will  enjoy  fitting  Bob  out, 
if  I  can  keep  her  from  putting  him  into  white 
clothes  to  make  him  resemble  an  angel  instead 
of  a  small  boy  with  an  eye  for  dirt." 

"You'll  find  Ellen's  no  fool,"  Macauley  assured 
him  warmly.  "But  if  she  takes  an  interest  in 
the  boy  it'll  be  the  best  thing  that  could  happen 
to  him.  She  has  a  lot  of  money.  She  may  get 
a  notion  to  adopt  him." 

But  upon  this  Red  Pepper  Burns  spoke  with 
decision.  "Confound  you,  the  kiddie  belongs 
to  me.  Didn't  I  tell  you  his  name  is  now  Robert 
Burns  ?  She  may  dress  him  if  she  likes.  She 
can't  have  him,  not  by  a  long  shot.  He's  mine!" 

"Oh,  well,  it  might  be  arranged,"  murmured 
Macauley,  but  not  quite  low  enough.  In  a  flash 
he  was  laid  flat  on  his  back  on  the  lawn,  a  menac 
ing  figure  standing  over  him. 

"None  of  that!"  growled  the  man  with  the 
temper.  "Not  now  or  any  other  time."  Then 
he  laughed  and  let  his  victim  up.  "Alcohol  will 
take  out  grass  stains,  Jim,"  he  advised.  "Tell 
Martha  that." 


CHAPTER  IV 

IN    WHICH    HE    MAKES    A    CONCESSION 

RED  PEPPER  BURNS  opened  his  eyes. 
What  on  earth  was  that  ?  A  small  voice 
piping  at  him  from  within  close  range  ?  But 
how  could  that  be  ? 

Something  bumped  against  him.  He  turned  his 
head  on  his  pillow.  A  small  figure  at  his  side  had 
raised  itself  upon  its  elbow;  big  black  eyes  in  a  pale 
little  face  were  staring  at  him  in  affright.  Burns 
roused  himself,  suddenly  very  wide  awake  indeed. 

"It's  all  right,  little  man,"  said  he,  pulling  the 
child  gently  into  the  warmth  of  his  encircling  arm. 
"You  came  home  with  me  last  night.  Don't  you 
remember  ?  You're  going  to  make  me  a  visit. 
And  this  morning  after  breakfast  we're  going  to 
drive  to  town  and  buy  a  train  of  cars  —  red, 
shiny  cars  and  an  engine  with  a  bell  on  it.  What 
do  you  think  of  that  ?" 

It  did  not  take  long  to  change  Bob's  fright  into 
the  happiest  anticipations.  Red  Pepper  Burns 

47 


48  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

was  at  his  best  with  children;  he  had  what  their 
mothers  called  "a  way  with  them." 

A  knock  at  the  door  and  Cynthia's  voice  call 
ing,"  Here's  some  things  for  the  little  boy,  Doctor," 
put  an  end  to  a  full  half-hour  of  delightful  com 
radeship,  during  which  the  sheets  of  the  bed  had 
became  a  tent  and  the  two  were  soldiers  resting 
after  a  day's  march.  Burns  rose  and  took  in  the 
parcel.  Martha  Macauley  had  sent  it.  Her  boy 
Harold  was  the  nearest  in  size  to  Bob  of  any  of 
the  children  of  his  neighbours,  and  the  parcel 
held  everything  needed  from  undershirt  to  scarlet 
Windsor  scarf  to  tie  under  the  rolling  collar  of  the 
blue  blouse. 

"A  bath  first,  Bob,"  and  his  new  guardian 
initiated  him  into  the  exciting  experience  of  a 
splash  in  a  big  white  tub,  in  water  decidedly  warmer 
than  it  would  be  a  week  hence  when  he  should 
have  become  used  to  the  invigorating  cool  plunge. 
Then  Burns,  glowing  from  contact  with  water  as 
cold  as  it  could  be  got  from  the  tap,  clad  in  bath 
robe  and  slippers,  attempted  to  solve  the  mysteries 
of  Bob's  toilet.  Roars  of  laughter  interspersed 
with  high  pipings  of  glee  presently  brought  Cyn 
thia  to  the  door. 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  49 

"Can't  I  help  you,  Doctor  Burns?"  she  called 
anxiously. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,  Cynthia:  much  obliged.  I'm 
having  the  time  of  my  life.  Stand  still,  son;  let's 
try  it  this  way  round!"  came  back  to  the  house 
keeper's  ears. 

"I  ain't  never  wore  so  many  rings  before,"  Bob 
declared  doubtfully,  as  a  small  white  waist  with 
dangling  elastic  stocking-supporters  was  finally 
discovered  to  go  best  buttoned  in  the  back. 

"I  know.  But  you'll  see  how  fine  it  is  to  have 
your  stockings  held  up  for  you.  Hi!  Here  are 
some  sandals,  Bob!  Barefoot  sandals,  only  we'll 
wear  them  over  stockings  to-day,  since  we're 
going  shopping.  Now  for  these  blue  garments  — 
I  wonder  how  they  go.  Shapeless-looking  things, 
they  look  to  me.  I  suppose  they'll  resolve  into 
baggy  knickers  and  the  sort  of  long  shirt  with  a 
belt  to  it  the  youngsters  of  your  age  all  wear.  Here 
we  go.  Does  this  top  part  button  behind,  Bob, 
like  the  waist  ?  No,  I  think  not.  ...  It 
sure  looks  odd,  whichever  way  we  don  it,  but 
that  may  be  because  it's  pretty  big.  Harold's 
several  sizes  bigger  than  you,  though  he  can't 
be  much  older.  Give  me  six  months  and 


50  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

I'll  have  you  filling  out  any  other  five-year-old's 
clothes." 

"  My  hands  —  they're  all  gone,"  remarked  the 
child,  holding  out  his  arms.  The  blue  sleeves  did, 
indeed,  cover  them  to  the  finger-tips.  Laughing, 
Burns  rolled  the  cloth  back,  making  an  awkward 
bunch  at  the  wrist,  but  allowing  the  small  hands 
freedom. 

"When  Mrs.  Lessing  trains  her  eye  on  you  she'll 
want  to  make  time  getting  to  the  shops,"  Burns 
observed,  struggling  with  the  scarlet  scarf  and 
finally  tying  it  like  a  four-in-hand.  "But  you're 
clean,  Bob,  and  hungry,  I  hope.  Now  I  want 
a  great  big  hug  to  pay  me  for  dressing  you." 

He  held  out  his  arms,  and  his  new  charge  sprang 
into  them,  pressing  arms  like  sticks  around  the 
strong  neck  of  the  man  who  seemed  to  him  al 
ready  the  best  friend  he  had  in  the  world  —  as 
he  was. 

At  eleven  o'clock,  a  round  of  calls  made,  the 
Green  Imp  came  for  Bob  and  Mrs.  Lessing. 
They  met  him,  hand  in  hand,  the  little  figure  in 
its  voluminous  misfit  clothes  looking  quaint 
enough  beside  the  perfect  outlines  of  his  com 
panion's  attire.  But  both  faces  were  very  happy. 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  51 

"How  many  dollars  do  you  suppose  Ellen  has 
stowed  away  in  that  handsome  purse  of  hers, 
ready  to  spend  on  the  child  ?"  Martha  Macauley 
queried  of  Winifred  Chester  as  they  watched  the 
Green  Imp  out  of  sight  from  the  Macauley  porch. 

Mrs.  Chester  shook  her  head.  "I've  no  idea. 
She'll  want  to  get  him  everything  a  child  could 
have.  But  Red  won't  let  her." 

"He  won't  know.  He'll  drop  them  at  a  store 
and  go  off  to  the  hospital.  The  things  will  come 
home  by  special  delivery,  and  the  next  thing  he 
sees  will  be  Bob  in  silk  socks  and  white  linen." 

"I  don't  believe  it.  He'll  go  shopping  with 
them.  He's  wild  over  the  boy,  and  he  doesn't 
care  a  straw  what  people  might  think  who  saw  the 
three  together.  He'll  tyrannize  over  Ellen  — • 
and  she'll  let  him,  for  the  pleasure  of  being  ruled 
by  a  man  once  more!" 

It  was  a  shrewd  prophecy  and  goes  to  show  that 
women  really  understand  each  other  pretty  well 
—  women  of  the  same  sort.  For  Red  Pepper 
Burns  did  go  shopping  with  the  pair  from  start 
to  finish.  It  was  an  experience  he  did  not  see  any 
occasion  for  missing. 

"You  won't  mind  my  coming,  too?"  was  all 


52  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

the  permission  he  asked,  and  Mrs.  Lessing  answer 
ed  simply:  "Surely  not,  if  you  care  to.  We  shall 
want  your  judgment." 

She  had  not  conducted  them  to  a  department 
store,  but  to  the  small  shop  of  a  decidedly  exclu 
sive  children's  outfitter.  Burns  knew  nothing 

O 

about  the  presumably  greater  cost  of  buying  a 
wardrobe  in  a  place  like  this,  but  he  soon  scented 
danger.  He  scrutinized  certain  glass  showcases 
containing  wax  lay-figures  of  pink-cheeked  young 
sters  attired  as  for  the  stage,  and  boomed  his  first 
caution  into  his  companion's  ear. 

"That's  not  the  sort  of  puppet  we  want  to  make 
out  of  Bob,  eh  ?"  he  suggested. 

She  turned,  smiling.  "Not  unless  you  intend 
to  keep  him  in  a  glass  case,  Doctor  Burns." 

"No  long-trousered  imitation  of  a  sailor-boy, 
either,  please,"  said  he,  pointing,  disfavour  in 
his  eye,  at  the  presentment  of  a  curly-headed  in 
fant  of  five  in  a  Jack-tar  outfit  of  white  flannel 
topped  by  an  expensive  straw  hat. 

"I  see  you're  not  going  to  trust  me,"  murmured 
Mrs.  Lessing,  as  a  slim-waisted,  trailing-black- 
gowned  saleswoman  approached. 

"I'll  trust  you,  but  I  intend  to  keep  my  eye  on 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  53 

you,"  admitted  Burns  frankly.  He  observed  with 
interest  the  wonderful  figure  of  the  saleswoman. 
Quite  possibly  that  lady  thought  he  was  admiring 
her,  for  nothing  in  his  face  could  have  told  her 
that  he  was  mapping  out  in  his  surgeon's  mind 
her  physical  anatomy,  and  speculating  as  to  where 
in  the  name  of  Hygeia  she  could  have  disposed 
of  her  digestive  organs  in  a  circumference  the 
diminutive  size  of  that! 

Underwear  first.  Mrs.  Lessing  went  straight 
at  the  foundations  of  Bob's  make  up,  and  began 
to  look  over  boxes  of  little  gossamer  shirts  and 
tiny  union  suits  of  a  fabric  so  delicately  fine  that 
Burns  handled  a  fold  of  it  suspiciously. 

"Silk?"  he  questioned. 

She  shook  her  head,  the  corners  of  her  mouth 
curving.  "Only  a  thread  now  and  then.  Mostly 
lisle  —  for  very  hot  weather.  These  others  have 
some  wool  in  them,  for  cooler  days.  Those 
nearest  you  are  quite  warm,  though  very  light  in 
weight.  For  really  cold  weather " 

"You're  not  planning  to  watch  the  thermometer 
and  keep  him  changing  underwear  accordingly?" 

"Not  at  all,  Doctor  Burns.  But  four  weights 
for  the  year  aren't  too  many,  are  they  ? " 


54'  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Are  you  buying  for  a  year  ahead  ?" 

"Please  let  me.  I  shall  not  be  here  when  he 
needs  to  change." 

Their  eyes  met.  Something  in  hers  made  him 
desist  from  argument. 

Stockings  came  next.  Mrs.  Lessing  bought 
substantial  tan  ones  in  quantity,  long  and  well 
reenforced.  Then  she  took  up  socks  of  russet 
and  of  white.  "  Shall  you  object  to  his  wearing 
these  a  good  deal?"  she  asked  Burns.  He  took 
up  one  small  sample,  running  his  fingers  into  it. 
"I  should  think  he  might  put  his  toes  through  one 
of  those  in  an  hour  or  two,"  he  suggested.  "His 
legs  are  pretty  thin.  Do  you  think  pipe-stem  legs 
in  short  socks,  to  say  nothing  of  bruises  and 
scratches,  really  attractive?" 

"You  want  him  to  go  barefooted  a  good  deal  of 
the  time,  don't  you?" 

"  Sure.  But  legs  in  socks  are  neither  fish,  flesh, 
nor  good  red  herring,  to  my  thinking." 

In  spite  of  the  smile  on  his  lips,  he  looked  ob 
stinate  and  she  deliberated,  drawing  a  white  sock 
unmistakably  fine  and  expensive  over  her  gray- 
gloved  hand.  Plainly  she  wanted  to  see  Bob  in 
socks  and  strap  slippers,  of  the  sort  her  boy  would 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  55 

have  worn.  As  she  studied  the  sock  Burns 
studied  her  profile.  "Get  him  a  pair,  for  your  own 
satisfaction,"  he  conceded. 

He  did  not  hear  the  order  she  gave,  but  the  sales 
woman  was  pleasantly  smiling  as  she  checked  it. 

The  next  thing  that  happened,  Bob  was  being 
measured.  Then  he  was  trying  on  Russian  blouse 
suits  that  fitted,  practical  little  garments  of  blue 
galatea,  of  tan-colored  linen  crash,  even  of  brown 
holland.  Burns  looked  on  approvingly.  The 
clothes  turned  Bob  into  a  gentleman's  son,  no  doubt 
of  that,  but  it  was  the  sort  of  gentleman's  son  who 
can  have  the  very  best  of  romping,  good  times. 

Something  diverted  Burns's  attention  for  a 
little,  and  when  he  turned  back  to  Bob  a  bright 
scarlet  reefer  had  been  pulled  on  over  his  blouse, 
and  a  wide  sailor  hat  with  a  scarlet  ribbon  crowned 
his  black  curls.  The  result  was  engagingly 
picturesque.  But  the  critic  frowned. 

"I'm  afraid  that  won't  do,  Mrs.  Lessing,"  he 
objected  decidedly. 

"You  don't  like  the  colour  ?  Not  with  his  hair 
and  eyes  ? " 

"  It  won't  hurt  his  hair,  but  it  will  his  eyes.  The 
sun  on  that  red  will  torture  him."  , 


56  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Will  it?  I  shouldn't  have  thought  of  it.  So 
many  children  wear  them." 

"And  shortly  come  to  spectacles.  Try  it  your 
self  for  half  an  hour." 

She  drew  off  the  reefer.  Bob  objected.  "I 
like  the  red  jacky,  Dotter  Burns,"  he  said.  It 
was  his  first  comment.  Hitherto  he  had  been  in 
a  dazed  state,  submitting  wonderingly  to  this 
strange  experience. 

Another  small  coat  of  tan-coloured  cloth  with 
a  gorgeous  red-and-brown  emblem  on  the  sleeve 
consoled  him.1 

"I  think  we 'are  through,"  said  Mrs.  Lessing. 
Burns  looked  at  her. 

"No  white  clothes?"  he  asked. 

"Did  you  want  him  to  have  some?" 

"No.     But  I  thought  you  would," 

"I  have  ordered  three  suits  to  be  made  for 
him,"  she  admitted,  flushing  a  little.  "They 
will  be  very  plain  and  will  launder  beautifully. 
He  will  wear  them  only  on  special  occasions. 
Do  you  mind  ?" 

"Well,  not  on  those  conditions,"  he  agreed 
reluctantly. 

They  went  to  a  shoe  shop,  and   Bob  became 


THE    CLOTHES   TURNED    BOB    INTO    A    GENTLEMAN'S    SON 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  57 

the  richer  for  leather  sandals,  canvas  shoes,  and 
various  other  footwear,  some  of  it  undeniably  fine. 
Burns  took  one  little  black  slipper  into  his  hand. 

"I  wonder  what  Bob's  grandmother  would  say 
to  that,"  he  observed  in  a  whisper. 

Ellen  Lessing  regarded  its  mate.  Her  lashes 
hid  her  eyes,  but  her  lip  quivered  and  he  saw  it. 
The  salesman  was  busy  with  Bob.  Burns  laid 
his  hand  for  an  instant  on  hers.  She  looked  up, 
and  a  smile  struggled  with  the  tears. 

A  toy  shop  came  last.  Here  Bob  was  in  an 
ecstasy.  His  companions  walked  up  and  down 
the  aisles,  following  his  eager  steps.  Mrs.  Lessing 
would  have  filled  his  arms,  but  she  found  the  way 
obstructed. 

"He  may  have  the  train  of  cars,"  Burns  con 
sented.  "But  they  must  be  cars  he'll  have  to 
pull  about  for  himself.  No,  not  the  trotting 
horse,  nor  the  trolley  on  the  track,  nor  any  other  of 
the  mechanical  stuff  I'll  get  him  that  dandy 
little  tool-chest  and  that  box  of  building  blocks, 
but  that's  enough." 

"The  mechanical  toys  are  of  the  best,  sir," 
suggested  the  salesman.  "They  won't  break 
except  with  pretty  rough  handling." 


58  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"That's  bad,"  Burns  asserted.  "The  quicker 
they  broke,  the  less  objection  I'd  have  to  'em.  it's 
a  wonder  the  modern  child  has  a  trace  of  resource 
or  inventiveness  left  in  him.  Teach  him  to  con 
struct,  not  to  destroy,  then  you've  done  some 
thing  for  him." 

"Isn't  he  rather  young  for  tools  ?"  Mrs.  Less- 
ing  was  turning  over  a  small  saw  in  her  hands, 
feeling  its  sharp  teeth  with  a  premonitory  finger. 

"There  are  gauze  and  bandages  in  the  office." 
He  laughed  at  her  expression  as  she  laid  down 
the  saw. 

"You  won't  object  to  that  box  of  tin  soldiers  ?" 
she  asked. 

"Decidedly.  You  don't  want  to  spoil  him  at 
the  start.  For  a  boy  who  never  had  a  toy  in  his 
life  he's  acquired  enough  now  to  turn  his  head. 
Come  away,  Mrs.  Lessing  —  flee  temptation. 
Come,  Bobby  boy."  And  Burns  led  the  way. 

Bob,  astride  of  a  marvellous  rocking-horse 
taller  than  himself,  was  like  to  weep.  Mrs.  Less- 
ing  went  to  him.  He  whispered  something  in  her 
ear.  She  came  back  to  Burns. 

"Doctor  Burns,"  said  she,  "every  boy  has  a 
rocking-horse.  He's  just  the  age  to  enjoy  it. 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  59 

Surely  it  won't  hazard  his  inventiveness:  it  will 
develop  it.  He'll  ride  all  over  the  country,  as 
you  do  in  the  Green  Imp." 

"What's  the  price?" 

"It's  not  costly  and  it's  a  very  good  one." 

Burns  inquired  the  price  again;  this  time  he 
asked  the  salesman.  Then  he  spoke  low: 

"Fifteen  dollars  seems  'not  costly'  to  you,  I 
suppose.  Think  of  Bob  yesterday,  with  not  a 
toy  to  his  name." 

"That's  why  I  want  to  give  him  one  to-day/' 

"He'll  be  just  as  happy  riding  a  stick  —  as 
soon  as  he  forgets  this." 

"He  won't  forget  it.     Look  at  his  eyes." 

"You're  looking  at  his  eyes  all  the  time.  That's 
what  undoes  you." 

He  had  to  look  away  from  her  eyes  then  himself, 
or  he  felt  quite  suddenly  that  he,  too,  would  have 
been  undone.  He  had  resisted  the  entreaty  in 
women's  eyes  many  times,  but  not  always, 
despite  the  reputation  he  held  for  indifference. 

"Doctor  Burns,  won't  you  give  me  this  one 
pleasure  ?  You've  really  been  quite  firm  all  the 
morning." 

She  was  smiling,  but  he  had  himself  in  hand 


60  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

again  and  he  was  blunt  with  her.  "Bob's  a 
bachelor's  child  now,"  he  said.  "He  must  be 
trained  according  to  bachelors'  ideas.  Come, 
you  know  it's  out  of  reason  to  give  the  youngster 
any  more  to-day.  Be  sensible." 

They  followed  him  out  of  the  store,  Bob's  hand 
held  fast  in  hers.  Somehow,  they  both  looked 
very  young  as  they  stood  outside  the  shop  window, 
gazing  back  at  the  marvellous  display  within.  He 
felt  as  if  he  were  being  rather  cruel  to  them  both. 
This  was  absurd,  of  course,  when  one  considered 
the  box  of  blocks,  the  train  of  cars  and  the  tool 
kit.  The  child  had  enough  playthings  already 
to  send  him  out  of  his  head.  Burns  drove  away 
rapidly  to  get  out  of  range  of  other  windows  which 
seemed  filled  with  rocking-horses  to-day. 

He  looked  down  at  Bob. 

"Happy,  little  chap  ?"  he  asked. 

Bob  nodded.  His  arms  clasped  the  red  train, 
but  he  was  not  looking  at  it. 

"Like  the  cars?" 

Bob  nodded.  His  wide  sailor  hat  obscured  his 
face.  Burns  could  see  only  the  tip  of  the  small  nose. 

"You'll  have  a  splendid  time  with  those  blocks, 
won't  you  ?" 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  61 

Again  the  nod,  but  no  reply. 

"The  hammer's  pretty  nice,  too,  isn't  it?" 

Once  more  the  dumb  answer.  But  the  silence 
seemed  odd,  for  Bob  had  long  since  lost  his  fear 
of  these  companions. 

"Look  up  here,  Bob." 

Reluctantly  the  child  obeyed.  Burns  caught 
one  fleeting  glimpse  of  wet  black  lashes.  One 
big  tear  was  slowly  stealing  down  the  pale  little 
cheek. 

"What's  the  matter,  old  man?" 

No  reply. 

Burns  looked  at  Ellen  Lessing  behind  Bob's 
back.  She  did  not  meet  his  glance.  She  was 
looking  at  the  boy.  It  struck  him  that  her  profile 
made  the  most  enchanting  outline  he  had  ever 
seen.  He  tried  to  steel  his  heart  against  them 
both.  He  knew  his  theory  was  right;  he  now  had 
the  chance  to  put  it  into  practice. 

The  Green  Imp  turned  a  corner  to  the  right. 
They  were  not  yet  out  of  the  city,  and  at  the  next 
block  the  car  turned  another  corner,  also  to  the 
right.  At  the  end  of  another  block  the  Imp 
swerved  once  more  —  to  the  right.  This  brought 
them  back  to  the  wide  street  which  led  to  the 


62  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

shopping  district  they  had  lately  left.  With 
silent  passengers  the  Imp  threaded  its  way  to  the 
toy  shop.  In  front  of  it  Burns  stopped  the  car. 
He  got  out  and  went  in  and  came  out,  the  big 
rocking-horse  in  the  arms  of  the  salesman  who 
followed  him. 

He  looked  up  at  their  faces.  Bob's  was  one 
wide-eyed  countenance  of  incredulous  joy.  The 
other's  —  if  he  had  seen  there  satisfaction  at  hav 
ing  brought  a  man  to  terms  he  felt  he  should  have 
despised  her;  but  that  was  not  what  he  saw. 

There  was,  by  planning  carefully,  just  room 
to  wedge  the  rocking-horse  in  at  Mrs.  Lessing's 
feet  without  encroaching  on  the  steering-gear. 
As  they  drove  off,  Bob  was  bending  over  and  gen 
tly  stroking  the  animal's  splendid  black  mane,  with 
little  chuckles  and  gurgles  of  joy.  Once  more 
Burns  looked  at  Ellen  Lessing  behind  Bob's  back. 

"You're  happy  now,  aren't  you?"  he  asked  in 
a  tone  of  assurance.  "Then,  confound  it,  I  must 
own  I'm  paid  for  letting  my  wise  bachelor  notions 
go  hang,  just  for  this  time!" 

"  Thank  you,"  she  answered  very  gently.  "  And 
I'm  paid  for  trying  to  be  reasonable." 

He  laughed,  suddenly  content.     Between  them 


HE  MAKES  A  CONCESSION  63 

the  little  lad  who  had  never  owned  a  toy  in  his 
life,  stowing  the  red  train  carefully  away  between 
his  feet,  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  rocking-horse. 

"Well,  Ellen,"  was  Martha  Macauley's  greeting 
to  her  sister,  "did  you  have  as  interesting  a  time 
dressing  the  child  as  you  expected  ? " 

"I  had  a  charming  time,"  replied  Mrs.  Lessing. 
She  shook  the  dust  out  of  her  long  gray  veil, 
smiling  at  her  memory  of  the  morning. 

"  Did  R.  P.  prove  docile  ?  " 

"'Docile'  doesn't  seem  to  me  just  the  word." 

"  I  used  it  in  an  attempt  at  fine  irony,"  explained 
Mrs.  Macauley. 

"  Well,  was  he  tractable,  then  ? " 

"  He  was  very  polite  and  kind  and  jolly  —  until 
the  real  business  of  shopping  began.  Then  he 
became  suspicious  —  and  a  trifle  autocratic."  She 
recalled  his  look  as  he  told  her  that  he  would 
trust  her,  but  that  he  meant  to  keep  an  eye 
upon  her. 

"  Didn't  you  get  your  own  way  about  any 
thing  ? "  demanded  her  sister,  with  eager  curiosity. 

Ellen  looked  at  her.  Martha  noted  that  the 
soft  black  eyes  were  glowing,  and  that  she  had  not 


64  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

seen  Ellen  appear  more  alive  and  interested  since 
the  days  before  trouble  came  to  her.  "  Do  you 
imagine  we  fought  a  battle  over  our  shopping  ?  " 
she  asked,  her  lips  curving  with  merriment. 

"  But  you  don't  tell  me.  I'm  anxious  to  know 
whether  we  shall  see  the  boy  dressed  according 
to  Red's  ideas  or  yours." 

"  We  agreed  beautifully  on  nearly  all  points  of 
his  dressing.  Where  we  differed,  we  —  compro 
mised  " 

"  Red  never  compromises  with  anybody,  so  I 
suppose  it  was  done  by  your  giving  in  ?  " 

"  He  never  compromises  ?  You  do  him  injustice. 
He  can  compromise  royally  —  by  the  same  method 
of  'giving  in.'  ' 

"  I  simply  can't  believe  it,"  murmured  Martha, 
shaking  her  head. 


CHAPTER  V 

IN  WHICH  HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND 

RED!" 
"Yes?" 

"  Are  you  through  with  that  rabble  ?  Can  you 
'tend  to  a  friend  ?" 

Redfield  Pepper  Burns  wheeled  around  in  his 
revolving  chair  and  glanced  sharply  at  Arthur 
Chester.  What  he  saw  made  him  follow  the 
moment's  inspection  with  a  direct  question. 

"Sit  down.     What  have  you  been  doing?" 

Chester  sat  down.  His  face  was  white.  He 
held  up  one  shaking  hand.  "Red,  what's  the 
matter  with  me  ? " 

Burns  continued  to  study  the  man  before  him. 
He  made  no  move  to  examine  into  his  condition; 
just  looked  steadily  into  the  other's  face  with  a 
gaze  before  which  his  patient  presently  shifted 
uneasily. 

"Well,  of  all  the  ways  to  treat  a  fellow!"  He 
tried  to  laugh.  "Is  that  the  way  you  do  with  the 

65 


66  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

rest  of  the  bunch  that  come  to  you  every  day  ? 
Or  are  you  trying  to  hypnotize  me  ?" 

"Look  me  in  the  eye,  Ches.  What  have  you 
been  doing  ?" 

"Working  like  a  fiend  in  that  infernal  office. 
If  there's  any  hotter  place  - 

''  There'll  be  a  hotter  one  for  you  right  on  this 
earth,  if  you  keep  on  the  way  you're  going." 

He  rose  suddenly,  and  approaching  Chester 
closely,  looked  intently  into  the  uplifted  eyes. 
He  sat  down  again.  "Own  up!"  he  commanded 
bluntly. 

"Red,"  begged  Chester,  "quit  this  sort  of  thing. 
Go  at  me  in  the  usual  way.  I  —  I  think  I'm  a 
bit  nervous  to-night.  I  can't  stand  your  gun-fire." 

"  All  right     When  did  you  begin  ?  " 

"Five  weeks  ago  when  you  were  away.  I 
didn't  mean  to  get  into  it,  Red,  on  my  word  I 
didn't,  after  all  you've  warned  me.  But  it  was 
so  beastly  hot  —  and  there  was  a  lot  of  extra  work 
at  the  office.  My  head  got  to  going  it  night  and 
day.  I — say"  -he  leaned  suddenly  forward, 
his  head  on  his  hands  -  "I  can  tell  you  better  if 
you  give  me  some  kind  of  a  bracer  —  I  feel  —  so 
—  deadly!" 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND          67 

Burns  got  up  and  prepared  something  in  a 
glass  —  something  not  particularly  palatable,  but 
when  it  had  taken  action,  which  it  promptly  did, 
Chester's  white  face  had  acquired  a  tinge  of  colour 
and  he  could  go  on. 

"I  stopped  in  Gardner's  office  one  day  when  my 

head  was  worse  than  usual.     Had  to  meet  a  man 

in  ten  minutes  —  important  deal  on  for  the  house 

-  had  to  be  at  my  best.     Told  Gardner  so.     He 

fixed  me." 

"  He  did  —  blame  him  —  fixed  you  for  a  dope- 
fiend.  I've  told  you  a  hundred  times  you  had 
precisely  the  kind  of  temperament  that  must  avoid 
that  sort  of  thing  like  the  gallows."  Burns  hit 
the  desk  with  his  fist  as  he  spoke,  with  a  thump 
of  impatience. 

"  It  seems  to  set  me  up  for  a  while  —  I  can  do 
anything.  Then  afterward " 

"You're  getting  the  afterward  all  right.  How 
much  do  you  take  ? " 

Chester  mentioned  the  amount  of  the  drug, 
stating  reluctantly  that  for  the  last  two  days  he 
had  been  obliged  slightly  to  increase  it  in  order 
to  get  the  full  effect. 

"Of  course  you  have  —  that's  the  insidiousness 


68  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

of  the  devil's  stuff.     How  soon  does  it  get  into 
action  ? " 

"  Oh,    right    away  —  almost   instantly." 

"What!  Is  your  imagination  strong  enough 
to —  See  here,  Ches  "•  —Burns  leaned  forward— 
"you're  taking  the  stuff  by  mouth,  of  course?" 

Chester's  eyes  went  down.  "Why  —  I  tried 
it  that  way  —  but  it  was  so  slow  - 

Burns  ejaculated  something  under  his  breath; 
the  quick  colour,  always  ready  to  flare  under  his 
clear  skin,  leaped  out. 

"Gardner  gave  you  a  hypo,  I  suppose  ?" 

"Yes." 

"So  you  went  and  bought  a  syringe  and  taught 
yourself  the  trick.  Suppose  you  give  me  a  look 
at  it." 

Like  a  shamed  schoolboy  Chester  unwillingly 
drew  forth  the  small  case  from  his  pocket.  Burns 
received  it.  He  opened  it  and  took  out  the  tiny 
instrument.  "It  looks  like  a  very  good  one/' 
he  observed  with  a  sort  of  deadly  quietness,  and 
with  one  motion  of  his  big  fingers  snapped  the  glass 
barrel  in  two. 

At  this  Chester  took  fire.  "That's  going  a  little 
too  far!"  he  burst  out  in  wrath. 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND          69 

"  Is  it  ?  Thought  it  was  you  who  had  gone  too 
far.  It's  up  to  me  to  bring  you  back  —  while  I 
can.  Getting  this  little  fiend  out  of  the  way  is 
the  first  step.  Keep  cool,  Ches  —  and  I'll  try 
to  do  the  same,  though  it  makes  my  blood  boil 
to  think  how  little  you've  cared  for  my  lectures  to 
you  on  this  very  thing." 

"I  have  cared.     But  I  had  no  idea " 

"Well,  you  have  one  now.  It's  taken  you  five 
weeks  to  acquire  enough  of  a  habit  to  give  you 
some  trouble  to  drop  it.  You're  that  sort  and 
that's  the  way  it  works,  anyhow.  I  wonder  you 
came  to  me  to-night.  Found  yourself  out  of  the 
stuff  and  didn't  like  to  try  to  get  it  here  where 
folks  know  you?" 

"If  you  want  to  put  everything  in  the  most 
disagreeable  way  you  can  —  yes,"  admitted  Ches 
ter  testily. 

"That's  precisely  what  I  want  to  do.  Put 
it  in  such  a  disagreeable  way  that  your  backbone'll 
stiffen  up  a  bit  and  give  us  something  to  start  with. 
If  I  make  you  mad  all  the  better  —  so  long  as  you 
don't  go  back  to  fools  like  Gardner,  who  never 
hesitate  to  give  a  fellow  like  you  a  sample  of  what 
that  drug'll  do  for  'em." 


70  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ?  I  shan't  sleep 
to-night,  and  I've  got  to  be  in  the  office  to-morrow 
morning." 

"When's  your  vacation  due?" 

"Not  till  week  after  next." 

"Arrange  to  take  it  now." 

"I  can't.  Stillinger's  off  on  his,  Monday 
morning." 

"Could  you  have  yours  now  if  he  waited  ?" 

"Yes,  but  I  wouldn't  ask  him." 

"I  would."  Burns  took  down  the  receiver  of 
his  desk  telephone. 

"  Red,   stop  —  I   don't  want  - 

Burns  paid  no  attention  to  him.  In  five  min 
utes  he  had  the  city  connection  and  his  man.  He 
stated  the  case:  Chester  was  in  urgent  need  of 
taking  his  vacation  without  delay,  but  was  not 
willing  to  ask  the  favour  of  his  office  associate 
He,  Burns,  his  friend's  physician,  did  not  scruple 
to  ask  it  if  it  would  not  interfere  too  seriously  with 
Mr.  Stillinger's  plans.  No  diplomat  could  re- 
quest  a  favour  more  courteously  than  R.  P.  Burns, 
M.D.  The  reply  .was  the  one  to  be  expected  of 
Stillinger,  bachelor  and  amiable  fellow,  who  was 
fond  of  Chester  and  hoped  it  was  nothing  serious. 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND  71 

Tell  him  to  go  ahead  with  his  vacation,  Stillinger 
said,  and  not  to  worry  over  office  affairs. 

"Now!"  Burns  wheeled  round  from  the  tele 
phone.  "  Will  you  put  yourself  in  my  hands  ? " 

"Do  you  honestly  think  I'm  such  an  abandoned 
case  —  already,"  began  Chester  unhappily,  "that 
you  have  to  - 

"Listen  to  me,  Ches.  I  don't  think  you're 
an  abandoned  case  —  that's  nonsense  —  after  five 
weeks.  But  I  do  think  you're  well  started  on  a 
road  that  it's  ruin  to  travel.  You  began  it  way 
back  last  winter  by  taking  that  headache  stuff 
in  double  the  dose  I  gave  you,  without  consulting 
me,  every  time  you  felt  a  trifle  below  par.  That's 
why  I  took  it  away  from  you.  You  felt  the  loss 
of  it,  and  you  were  an  easy  mark  for  Gardner's 
dope.  You've  grown  so  dependent  on  that  al 
ready  that  you're  going  to  have  a  fight  to  get 
along  without  it.  You  can't  fight  and  do  office 
work,  so  I'm  going  to  make  the  most  of  my  chance 
during  this  fortnight's  vacation  —  if  you'll  give  me 
leave.  If  you  won't  —  I  think  I'll  knock  you 
down  and  get  you  where  I  want  you  that  way." 

He  smiled  —  a  smile  with  so  much  spirit  and 
affection  in  it  that  Chester's  eyes  filled,  to  his  own 


72  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

astonishment,  for  up  to  this  point  he  had  been 
both  hurt  and  angry.  After  a  moment  he  said, 
with  his  eyes  on  the  floor,  but  in  a  different  tone 
from  any  he  had  yet  used:  "Go  ahead,  Red. 
I'll  try  to  prove  I  have  some  stuff  in  me  yet." 

"  Of  course  you  have."  Burns's  hand  was  on  his 
friend's  shoulder.  "That's  what  I'm  counting  on. 
Prove  it  by  following  directions  to  the  letter.  And 
begin  by  coming  with  me  for  a  trip  into  the  coun 
try.  I  have  to  see  a  case  before  I  go  to  bed, 
and  the  air  will  do  your  head  good." 

It  was  the  first  of  many  similar  trips.  Arthur 
Chester  may  fairly  have  been  said  to  spend  the 
succeeding  fortnight  in  the  company  of  the  Green 
Imp  and  its  driver.  From  morning  till  night,  and 
often  in  the  night  itself  when  he  found  it  im 
possible  to  sleep,  he  was  living  in  the  open  air  by 
means  of  this  device.  Of  walking,  also,  he  did  an 
increasing  amount  as  his  strength  grew  under  the 
regimen  Burns  insisted  upon.  But  for  the  first 
week,  in  spite  of  all  the  help  his  physician  could 
give  him,  he  found  himself  indeed  involved  in  a 
fierce  struggle  —  a  struggle  with  shaken  and  un 
manageable  nerves;  with  a  desperate  craving  for 
the  soothing,  uplifting  effect  of  the  drug  to  which 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND          73 

he  was  forced  to  admit  he  had  become  perilously 
accustomed;  with  a  black  depression  of  spirit 
which  was  worse  than  anything  else  he  had  to 
combat. 

It  was  at  the  worst  of  one  of  these  periods  of 
darkness  that,  alone  with  his  patient  upon  a  hilltop 
where  the  two  had  climbed,  leaving  the  Green  Imp 
at  a  point  where  the  road  had  become  impossible, 
Burns  said  suddenly: 

"Ches,  I  believe,  with  all  my  care  to  give  you 
the  treatment  I  thought  you  needed,  I've  failed 
to  point  out  the  most  potent  remedy  of  all." 

Chester  shook  his  head.  "You've  done  every 
thing,  Red.  All  the  trouble's  with  me.  I'm  so 
pitiably  weak  —  so  much  weaker  than  I  ever 
dreamed  I  could  be.  I  can't  seem  to  care  whether 
I  get  out  of  this  or  not.  All  I  want  is  to  lie  down 
and  go  to  sleep  —  and  never  wake  up." 

The  last  words  came  under  his  breath,  but  Burns 
heard  them.  He  showed  no  sign  of  being  startled, 
though  this  mood  was  a  gloomier  one  than  he  had 
yet  seen  his  patient  succumb  to.  Instead,  he 
went  on  talking  in  a  tone  of  confidence: 

"I  ought  to  have  known  enough  to  apply  this 
remedy,  because  it's  one  I've  tried  myself.  If 


74  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

you  could  know,  since  the  night  you  heard  me 
make  a  certain  vow,  what  a  time  I've  had  with 
myself  to  keep  it,  you'd  understand  that  I  know 
what  it  means  to  try  to  break  up  a  habit.  Mine's 
the  habit  of  years.  With  my  temper  and  some  of 
my  associations,  intemperate  profanity's  been  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  fall  into.  When 
things  went  wrong,  out  would  come  the  oaths  like 
water  out  of  a  spring  —  though  that's  a  false 
comparison:  like  the  filth  out  of  a  sewer,  I'd  better 
say." 

"We  all  swear  more  or  less,"  acknowledged 
Chester,  his  head  in  his  hands. 

"Not  as  I  did  —  and  you  know  it.  I've  been 
responsible  for  many  a  boy's  taking  it  up,  though 
I  didn't  realize  it.  Because  I  was  athletic  and  in 
for  sports  with  them,  they  thought  I  was  the  whole 
thing.  They  laughed  when  I  got  mad  and  ripped 
out  a  lot  of  language:  they  copied  it.  But  I  never 
heard  myself  as  others  hear  me  till  that  night  I 
let  go  at  the  mother  who'd  ignorantly  murdered 
her  boy  by  disobeying  orders.  On  the  way  home 
that  night  I  woke  up  —  came  to  myself —  I  don't 
know  how.  The  stars  were  unsually  bright,  and  I 
looked  up  at  them  and  thought  of  that  child's 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND  75 

soul  going  back  to  its  Maker  .  .  .  and  then 
thought  of  my  curses  following  it  and  coming  to 
His  ear." 

A  silence  fell.  When  Burns  broke  it,  it  was  in 
a  voice  deep  with  feeling. 

"The  next  words  I  sent  up  to  that  ear  were  in 
a  different  shape.  I  think  it  was  the  first  real 
prayer  I'd  ever  said  since  the  little  parrot  prayers 
my  mother  taught  me.  That  was  the  first:  it 
hasn't  been  the  last.  I  don't  suppose  I  say  much 
that  would  sound  like  the  preacher's  language,  but 
Ches,  what  I  do  believe  is  that  —  I  get  what  I 
ask  for.  That's  —  help  to  fight  my  temptations. 
And  profanity  isn't  the  only  one  nor  the  toughest 
one  to  down." 

Chester  looked  up.  For  a  moment  he  forgot 
himself  and  his  wretchedness.  "It's  hard  to  be 
lieve  it's  you,  Red  —  talking  like  this." 

"  I  know  it  must  be  hard,  but  it  ought  to  be  the 
more  convincing  on  that  account.  I  belong  to  a 
profession  of  materialists,  and  all  at  once  it's  grown 
to  seem  to  me  the  strangest  thing  in  life  that  a 
man  who  studies  the  anatomy  of  this  body  of  ours 
should  be  a  materialist.  To  watch  its  workings 
and  then  doubt  the  God  who  made  it  is  sheer 


76  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

wilful  blindness.  But,  Ches  —  I've  got  my  eyes 
open  at  last.  The  God  who  made  me  is  up  there, 
and  He  knows  and  cares  how  I  go  on  with  the  job. 
As  for  answering  my  appeals  for  help  when  I  get 
hard  pressed  —  the  biggest  sign  I  have  of  that  is 
a  human  one.  Since  Bobby  Burns  came  to  sleep 
in  that  little  bed  next  mine,  it's  been  a  whole  lot 
easier  to  get  on." 

A  deep  sigh  was  Chester's  reply  to  this.  He 
had  a  small  boy  and  girl  of  his  own.  For  their 
sakes  and  Winifred's  he  knew  he  must  fight  this 
fight  out  and  win.  But  as  for  getting  tangible 
help  from  the  Creator  of  a  body  handicapped 
by  nerves  like  his!  He  began  to  say  this,  but 
Burns  broke  in  upon  him  with  the  answer  he 
would  least  have  expected  at  a  moment  like  this  - 
a  great,  ringing  laugh,  the  sound  of  which  brought 
the  slow  blood  to  Chester's  white  face. 

"If  you  consider  wrecked  nerves  like  mine  a 
laughing  matter  -  '  he  broke  out. 

But  Burns,  his  laugh  over,  was  sober  again  and 
his  voice  was  earnest.  "Arthur  Chester,  don't 
make  Him  responsible  for  your  'wrecked  nerves.' 
They  weren't  wrecked  when  you  were  furnished 
with  them.  You've  done  the  wrecking  yourself 


HE  IS  ROUGH  ON  A  FRIEND          77 

by  breaking  pretty  nearly  every  law  that  governs 
the  workings  of  the  human  machine.  You're 
paying  the  penalty.  But  you're  going  to  get  the 
upper  hand.  From  now  on,  in  spite  of  your 
office  life,  you're  going  to  get  good  red  blood  in 
your  veins  —  and  your  brains.  The  worst  is  over 
now  —  the  second  week  will  be  easier.  But  what 
I'm  trying  to  tell  you  is  that  you'll  get  that  upper 
hand  a  lot  quicker  if"  —  his  cheek  grew  hot  with 
this  strange,  unaccustomed  effort  at  putting  things 
he  had  never  spoken  of  before  into  words  —  "if 
you'll  just  reach  up  and  take  hold  of  that  'Upper 
Hand'  that,  according  to  my  new  belief  and  ex 
perience,  is  ready  to  reach  down  to  you.  It's 
stronger  than  yours:  you'll  feel  the  upward  pull." 

He  broke  off  and  got  to  his  feet.  The  two  had 
been  sitting  on  a  fallen  log,  looking  off  over  the 
hills  toward  a  distant  river  winding  its  blue  length 
through  fields  of  living  green. 

"  I  wasn't  exactly  cut  out  for  a  preacher,  Ches," 
he  added  after  a  minute.  "  I  hope  my  talk  doesn't 
sound  to  you  like  '  cant.'  I'm  a  pretty  poor  speci 
men  of  a  chap  to  be  setting  up  my  own  example 
for  anybody  to  follow." 

"  I  don't  think  you've  been  setting  up  your  own 


78  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

example,"  Chester  replied.  He  pulled  himself  up 
limply  from  the  log,  yet  out  of  his  face  had  gone 
the  black  look  which  had  been  there  when  he  came 
up  the  hill.  "And  what  you've  said  doesn't  sound 
like  'cant'  to  me,  Red.  It  sounds  more  like 

C  5  5» 

can. 

Red  Pepper  Burns  held  out  his  hand.  His  big, 
warm  fingers  closed  hard  over  the  thin,  cold  ones 
which  met  them.  Then  the  two  men,  without 
more  words,  went  away  down  the  hill.  From  this 
hour  Arthur  Chester  afterward  dated  the  begin 
ning  of  the  end  of  the  fight. 


CHAPTER  VI 

IN   WHICH  HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF 

RED,"  observed  James  Macauley,  Junior, 
"this  place  of  yours  looks  like  a  drunkard's 
home." 

He  glanced  around  him  as  he  spoke.  The 
criticism  certainly  found  justification  in  every 
corner.  No  more  neglected  office  could  have  been 
discovered  belonging  to  any  practitioner  within 
an  area  of  many  miles. 

"I  suppose  it  does,"  rejoined  Burns  from  the 
depths  of  a  big,  dusty  leather  chair  where  he  sat 
stretched  in  an  attitude  expressing  extreme  fatigue. 
"  But  I  don't  care  a  hang." 

Macauley  looked  at  him.  His  eyes  were  closed. 
His  arms  lay  upon  the  chair  arms,  relaxed  and 
limp.  For  the  first  time  his  friend  observed 
what  might  have  been  noted  by  a  critical  eye 
on  any  day  during  the  last  fortnight.  The  lines 
on  the  ordinarily  strong,  health-tinted  face  were 
deeper  than  he  had  ever  seen  them;  the  cheeks 

79 


8o  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

were  thinner;  there  were  even  shadows  under  the 
thick  eyelashes  which  outlined  the  lids  of  the 
closed  eyes. 

"Look  here,  old  man,"  Macauley  cried,  sudden 
conviction  seizing  him,  "you're  working  altogether 
too  hard.  This  miserable  city  epidemic  has  done 
you  out.  I've  thought  all  the  time  you  were  try 
ing  to  cover  too  much  ground." 

"Ground's  had  to  be  covered,"  replied  the  other 
briefly,  without  opening  his  eyes. 

"Have  the  other  fellows  worked  as  hard  as 
you?" 

"Harder." 

"I  don't  believe  it.  They're  all  city  men. 
You've  done  all  this  city  work  and  looked  after 
your  own  patients  here,  too,  to  say  nothing  of 
living  in  both  places  at  once.  With  your  house 
keeper  gone  home  to  her  sick  folks,  and  Miss 
Mathewson  off  on  one  of  your  cases  —  no  wonder 
this  place  looks  the  way  it  does." 

"It  doesn't  matter.  Cut  it  out  about  the  place. 
I'm  going  back  in  ten  minutes." 

"You  are!     Not  going  to  get  to  bed?" 

"Don't  know.  I  might  snatch  a  nap  now  if 
you'd  quit  talking." 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        81 

Macauley  closed  his  mouth.  Presently  he  got 
up  and  stole  out  of  the  room.  He  was  back  again 
in  a  trice,  a  flask  in  one  hand,  a  soda  siphon  in 
the  other,  and  a  small  glass  balanced  on  his 
thumb.  When  Burns,  at  the  sound  of  a  clock 
striking  somewhere,  rubbed  his  eyes  with  his  fists 
and  reluctantly  opened  them,  Macauley  spoke 
briskly: 

"  See  here  —  I'm  going  to  give  you  a  bracer. 
I  know  your  confounded  notions,  but  they  don't 
cut  any  figure  when  you  need  something  to  pull 
you  together  the  way  you  do  to-night." 

He  started  to  measure  out  the  amber  liquid 
into  the  glass,  but  Burns  put  up  a  hand. 

"Much  obliged,  but  I  don't  want  any." 

"You  idiot  —  don't  you  know  when  to  make 
an  exception  to  your  rule  ?  I  admit  you've  won 
out  over  the  other  fellows  just  by  keeping  a  steady 
hand,  but  you're  dead  as  a  dog  for  rest  to-night 
and  you  need  a  stiff  one,  if  I'm  any  judge." 

"You're  not  —  for  me."  Burns  sat  up, 
<{  Heavens,  man,  if  I  were  going  to  break  my 
rule  at  all  it  wouldn't  be  for  a  drink  of  anything. 
It  would  be  for  a  stab  in  the  arm  with  something 
that  beats  your  stuff"  all  out  for  stimulating  the 


82  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

fatigue  out  of  a  fellow  and  making  him  feel  like 
working  till  he  drops." 

"Why  don't  you  have  it  then  ?"  asked  Macau- 
ley  curiously.  "I  should  think  if  ever  a  used-up 
chap  were  justified  in  - 

"Don't  give  me  that  talk  if  you're  my  friend. 
It's  hard  enough  to  hold  out  without  resorting  to 
that  game.  I  don't  need  you  to  advise  it.  I've 
seen  enough  of  that  sort  of  suicide.  Buller  and 
Fields  are  both  down  and  out,  and  they  began  to 
brace  early  in  the  epidemic.  Van  Horn's  a 
wreck,  though  he  keeps  going;  and  I  tell  you,  I've 
more  respect  for  that  man  than  I  ever  had  before. 
He's  a  poseur  and  a  toadier,  no  doubt  of  that,  and 
I've  always  despised  him  for  it,  but  he  has  real 
ability  and  he's  worked  like  a  fiend  through  this 
muss,  and  not  all  for  his  rich  patients,  either. 
But  he's  weakening  fast,  and  it's  drug  stimulation 
that's  done  it.  No,  sir:  not  for  mine.  But  I'll 
make  myself  a  cup  of  coffee,  for  I've  got  to  keep 
awake,  and  I  shall  sleep  in  my  tracks  if  I  don't." 

He  got  up  and  stumbled  out  into  his  deserted 
kitchen.  Macauley  followed,  helping  as  best  he 
knew  how,  and  watched  his  friend  gulp  down  two 
cupfuls  of  a  muddy  liquid  with  a  feeling  of  ad- 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        83 

miration  such  as  a  small  act  of  large  signifi 
cance  may  sometimes  stir  in  one  who  apprehends. 

Two  days  later  Burns,  starting  toward  home  in 
the  Imp  at  a  late  hour  in  the  morning,  passed  a 
figure  on  a  corner  of  a  city  street  waiting  for  the 
outward-bound  trolley.  He  slowed  down  beside  it. 

"May  I  take  you  home?'*  he  asked,  cap  in 
hand,  and  interest  showing  in  eyes  which  a  moment 
before  had  been  heavy  with  fatigue. 

Ellen  Lessing  looked  up.  "I  shall  be  very 
glad,"  she  answered,  as  she  met  his  outstretched 
hand  and  let  it  draw  her  upward  to  the  vacant 
seat.  "The  car  is  always  so  full  at  this  hour,  and 
I  was  longing  for  the  feeling  of  the  wind  against 
my  face." 

"It's  cool  for  late  August,  and  you'll  get  a 
breeze  on  the  road  home  that  will  refresh  you. 
You  haven't  touched  water  or  milk  in  this  plague- 
stricken  district,  I  hope?' 

"No,  indeed.  Martha  warned  me  a  dozen 
times  before  I  left.  How  are  things  ?  Any 
better?" 

"No  new  cases  in  twenty-four  hours,  and  the 
old  ones  well  in  hand.  I'm  getting  home  earlier 
to-day  than  I've  done  for  a  month,  and  hope  to 


84  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

have  a  few  hours  off  duty.     I  was  planning  what 
to  do  with  them  as  I  came  upon  you." 

"I  should  think  you  could  do  nothing  better 
with  them  than  to  go  home  and  sleep,"  she  ad 
vised,  looking  up  at  his  face  with  a  critical, 
friendly  survey  of  the  signs  of  weariness  written 
plainly  there.  "You  are  worn  out,  and  that  means 
something  when  one  says  it  of  so  strong  a  man  as 
you." 

"I  could  sleep  a  week,  but  I'm  not  sure  that  a 
few  hours  would  more  than  aggravate  my  need. 
Besides,  I  shouldn't  be  at  home  an  hour  before  I 
should  be  called  out  again.  No,  my  plans  were 
forming  themselves  differently,  and  now  that  I've 
met  you  they're  taking  definite  shape.  I  want  - 
well  —  suppose  I  don't  tell  you!  Would  you  trust 
me  to  take  you  off  on  a  rest-seeking  expedition 
without  explaining  what  I  mean  to  do?" 

"On  a 'rest-seeking expedition'  ?"  she  repeated. 
"Doctor  Burns,  are  you  sure  you  hadn't  better 
go  on  that  alone  ?  Suppose  I  chatter  all  the  way  ?" 

He  smiled.  "You're  not  a  chatterer.  And  I 
don't  want  to  go  alone.  I  haven't  had  a  chance 
for  an  hour  with  you  for  a  month,  I  think.  This 
is  the  only  way  I  can  get  it.  Will  you  go  ? " 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        85 

"You  provoke  my  curiosity.  Yes,  I  think 
I'll  go.  I've  been  shopping  all  the  morning  and 
I  deserve  a  reward  of  rest,  if  you're  sure  you 
know  where  to  find  it." 

He  turned  the  Imp  abruptly  aside  from  the 
boulevard  leading  out  of  town  down  which  they 
had  been  speeding.  He  made  a  detour  of  certain 
side  streets  which  brought  him  up  before  a  small 
establishment  bearing  a  sign  which  set  forth  an 
alluring  invitation  to  motoring  parties  in  need  of 
food.  He  disappeared  therein,  and  was  absent 
for  the  space  of  a  full  twenty  minutes.  When  he 
returned  he  was  followed  by  a  waiter  with  a 
hamper  to  whose  bestowal  in  the  back  of  the  car 
he  looked  carefully. 

As  they  sped  away  again,  Burns  turned  to  his 
companion,  a  smile  of  anticipation  on  his  face, 
to  meet  a  glance  of  some  apprehension. 

"You're  not  repenting  your  rash  trust  of  me 
already,  are  you  ?"  he  demanded. 

"  I'm  remembering  that  Martha  has  four  guests 
at  luncheon  to-day,  and  expects  me  to  be  there!" 

"Is  that  all  ?  Don't  let  that  worry  you.  We'll 
simply  have  a  breakdown  somewhere  on  the  road 
—  conveniently  near  to  a  spot  I  know,  where  I 


86  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

can  broil  the  beefsteak  I  have  in  that  hamper,  and 
make  the  coffee.  'Unavoidable  detention*  will 
be  your  apology." 

"'Irresistible  temptation'  will  be  my  confession," 
she  admitted.  "I'm  not  good  at  subterfuge  and 
I'm  so  hungry  that  the  mere  mention  of  beef 
steak  out-of-doors 

"If  it  weighs  against  the  pates  and  salads  of  a 
woman's  luncheon  I  shall  have  a  great  respect 
for  you.  Come  on,  let's  run  away!  You  from 
social  duties,  I  from  professional  ones.  I'll  agree 
to  stand  out  Martha  in  your  defense.  Unless, 
of  course,  the  opportunity  to  wear  a  pretty  frock 
and  throw  all  the  other  women  in  the  shade  - 

She  laughed.  "That's  precisely  what  Martha 
wants  me  to  do!" 

"Then  fail  her  and  let  the  other  women  win. 
It's  too  late  to  repent,  anyhow,  for  here's  where 
we  turn  off." 

The  Imp  itself  seemed  to  be  running  away,  so 
swiftly  and  silently  it  covered  the  new  road  leading 
off  into  the  hills.  Presently  it  was  climbing  them. 

"  I  want  to  get  where  no  call-boy  monotonously 
repeating  'Doc-tor  Bur-rns,  Doc-tor  Bur-rns',  can 
get  hold  of  me,"  the  Imp's  driver  explained. 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        87 

"  I  suppose  you're  not  dressed  —  nor  shod  —  for 
a  rough  walk  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  where  the  car 
can't  go?" 

"I'll  sacrifice  skirts  and  soles,"  she  promised. 
"  Isn't  the  air  out  here  glorious  ?  I  thought  I  was 
tired  when  I  left  the  city:  now  I  could  climb  that 
hill  and  enjoy  it.'* 

"That's  precisely  what  we'll  do,  then.  There's 
a  view  from  the  top  worth  the  scramble,  but  I 
wasn't  sure  you'd  be  game  for  it.  Perhaps  I'll 
know  you  better  at  the  end  of  this  afternoon  than 
I  do  now.  Is  there  a  jolly,  athletic  girl  hidden 
away  under  that  demure  manner  of  yours  I've 
seen  so  far,  I  wonder?" 

"Lead  the  way  up  that  hill  and  you'll  find  out," 
she  answered  with  a  challenging  flash  of  her  dark 
eyes. 

He  lodged  the  Imp  .among  a  clump  of  pines,  got 
out  the  hamper  and  turned  to  his  companion. 
She  had  pulled  off  her  gloves,  removed  hat  and 
veil  and  folded  her  long,  gray  coat  away  in  the  car. 
This  left  her  dressed  in  the  trim  gray  skirt  of  walk 
ing  length  and  the  gray  silk  blouse  she  had  worn 
for  shopping.  Burns  looked  at  her  with  ap 
proval. 


88  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Transformed  by  magic  from  a  fashionable 
lady  in  street  attire  to  a  girl  ready  for  the  woods," 
was  his  comment.  "I'm  glad  you  leave  off  the 
hat  —  I'll  match  you  by  doffing  the  cap.  Now, 
aren't  we  a  pair  ?  Are  you  in  for  a  rush  up  that 
first  slope  ?  Jove,  I'm  not  half  so  tired  as  I  was 
an  hour  ago,  already!" 

He  caught  her  hand  in  his,  his  other  arm  through 
the  hamper  handle,  and  ran  with  her  up  the  slope. 
At  the  edge  of  the  steeper  climb  to  come  they 
stopped,  breathing  fast.  "This  isn't  the  way 
to  begin,  of  course,"  he  admitted  as  they 
both  regained  their  breath,  laughing  at  their 
own  enthusiasm,  "but  I  couldn't  resist  that 
dash  —  a  sort  of  dash  for  freedom.  Now  we'll 
take  it  more  easily." 

They  worked  their  way  up  and  up  among  the 
rocks,  he  always  in  advance,  reaching  down  a  mus 
cular  right  arm  to  help  her  at  the  steeper  places, 
and  once  giving  her  a  knee  to  step  on  when  pro 
gress  could  be  made  only  up  the  straight  face  of 
a  big  boulder.  It  was  undoubtedly  a  stiff  climb 
for  a  woman,  but  she  showed  no  signs  of  flinching, 
and  though  her  cheeks  glowed  richly  and  her 
wavy  black  locks  were  a  trifle  loosened  from  their 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        89 

usual  order  when  at  last  she  set  foot  upon  the 
plateau  at  the  top,  she  showed  only  the  temporary 
fatigue  to  be  expected  after  such  unusual  exertion. 

"That  makes  the  blood  course  through  one's 
arteries  in  a  way  worth  while,"  was  his  comment 
as  he  regarded  with  satisfaction  the  splendid 
colour  in  her  cheeks  and  the  sparkle  in  her  eyes. 
"Talk  about  rest!  That's  the  way  to  get  it!  Burn 
up  the  products  of  fatigue,  replace  them  with 
fresh  cells  full  of  oxygen,  and  you  get  rejuvena 
tion.  Look  at  that  stretch  of  country  before  us! 
Isn't  that  worth  the  climb  ?" 

"It's  glorious!  I've  often  looked  at  this  height 
as  our  car  drove  by  on  the  road  over  there,  and 
wanted  to  climb  it.  But  Martha  and  Jim  are 
always  for  reeling  off  miles,  and  so,  I  thought, 
were  you.  I  imagined  there  was  nobody  but 
myself  to  care  for  this." 

"And  I  thought  you  liked  the  porch  and  the 
pretty  clothes  you  wear  there  better  than  anything 
I  could  show  you  in  the  open,"  he  owned  with  a 
laugh.  "Not  that  I  haven't  enjoyed  that  porch 
and  the  sight  of  the  clothes  —  they  don't  seem  to  be 
just  like  Martha's  and  Winifred's,  somehow, 
though  I  can't  tell  why!  I've  wanted  to  ask  you 


90  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

off  for  a  trip  like  this,  but  never  was  sure  you'd 
enjoy  it.  I'm  glad  I've  found  out.  I  feel  as  if 
I'd  wasted  the  summer!" 

He  fell  to  gathering  wood  for  his  fire,  and  when 
she  had  regained  her  breath  she  helped  him  in 
spite  of  his  remonstrance.  "Let  me  have  all  the 
fun,  too,"  she  begged.  "I  haven't  had  a  chance 
like  this  for  four  years.  I  used  to  camp  in  flannels 
all  summer  long,  in  the  roughest  sort  of  style,  and 
loved  it  dearly.  I  could  stand  the  tension  of  a 
'long  social  winter  twice  as  well  as  the  other  wromen, 
on  account  of  it." 

He  understood,  knowing  that  her  husband  had 
occupied  a  prominent  official  position  which  called 
upon  him  to  maintain  a  corresponding  place  in 
the  society  of  the  city  in  which  they  had  lived. 
Although  he  knew  her  to  be  still  under  thirty,  he 
realized  that  on  account  of  her  early  marriage 
she  had  had  much  experience  in  the  world  of 
affairs.  It  was  this  aspect  of  her  he  had  always 
borne  in  mind  as  he  had  seen  her  before.  Now 
he  was  beginning  to  recognize  another  side  of  her 
character  and  tastes,  a  side  which  interested  him 
even  more  than  the  other  had  done. 

Like  a  pair  of  children  they  collected  their  fire- 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        91 

wood,  racing  together  to  the  base  of  operations 
with  armfuls  of  dry  sticks.  When  there  was  a 
big  pile  she  surprised  him  by  asking  to  be  allowed 
to  make  the  fire  herself. 

"I'll  prove  to  you  I'm  a  woodsman,"  she  as 
serted,  and  when  she  had  performed  her  task 
after  the  most  approved  fashion  of  the  skilled 
camper,  he  acknowledged  that  she  had  made  good 
her  boast.  As  the  smoke  cleared  away  in  the 
direction  which  left  the  view  unobscured  and  the 
spot  he  had  selected  for  the  lunching-place  free 
from  smoke,  he  grinned  approvingly. 

"I've  no  doubt  you  could  grill  the  steak  and 
brew  the  coffee  with  equal  skill,"  he  admitted, 
"but  I'm  not  going  to  let  you.  That's  my  job. 
I  want  to  prove  my  prowess.  Sit  down  on  that 
log,  please,  and  oversee  me." 

She  watched  with  hungry  interest  while  he  also 
gave  evidence  of  his  craft.  It  could  hardly  be 
the  first  time  that  a  hamper  had  been  packed  for 
him  at  the  place  in  the  city,  for  nothing  he  needed 
had  been  left  out,  even  to  a  big  bottle  of  spring 
water  with  which  to  make  the  coffee.  When  his 
work  was  nearly  complete  she  spread  a  square 
of  white  linen  upon  a  flat  rock  and  set  forth  the 


92  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

other  contents  of  the  hamper  —  olives  and  bread 
and  butter,  crisp  celery-hearts,  and  cream  cheese 
and  a  tin  of  biscuits.  She  heated  the  plates  and 
cups  before  the  fire,  and  as  he  withdrew  his  steak 
from  the  coals  she  set  a  smoking  hot  platter  before 
him  and  offered  him  the  materials  for  seasoning. 

"You're  a  crack  camper  for  sure,"  he  declared. 
"Ah-h  —  does  that  steak  look  fit  for  the  gods,  or 
not?  How's  the  coffee  ?  Clear?" 

"Perfect.  And  the  steak  looks  as  if  it  would 
melt  in  one's  mouth.  Oh,  isn't  this  fun  ?  How 
glad  I  am  I'm  here  and  not  at  that  luncheon!" 
She  consulted  a  tiny  watch.  "It's  two  o'clock  - 
they're  sitting  down,"  she  exulted.  "Martha 
has  waited  half  an  hour  for  me  and  given  me  up, 
and  she's  perfectly  furious.  I'm  wicked  enough 
to  feel  that  that  fact  is  going  to  make  this  meal 
taste  all  the  better!" 

"Stolen  steak  and  bread  and  butter  eaten  in 
secret  have  an  extra  relish  —  no  doubt  of  that. 
Here  —  this  juicy  bit  is  for  you  to  begin  on.  Set 
your  teeth  into  it,  partner!  How's  that  for  food, 
I  ask  of  you  ?" 

Sitting  on  the  ground  opposite  each  other  with 
the  flat  rock  between,  they  consumed  this  Arcadian 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        93 

banquet,  eating  with  the  zest  born  of  exertion  and 
the  open  air,  the  sunshine  and  the  comradeship. 

"Nothing  has  tasted  quite  so  good  to  me  in  a 
year,"  said  she  when  the  steak  had  vanished, 
dipping  a  white  celery-heart  in  salt  and  biting  the 
end  off  with  teeth  still  whiter. 

"Nothing  ever  tasted  so  good  to  me,"  said  he, 
leaning  on  his  elbow  and  spreading  a  crisp  biscuit 
with  a  layer  of  cheese.  "I  always  think  that  of 
each  meal  I  eat  in  a  place  like  this,  but  this  one 
seems  to  have  a  special  flavour.  I  wonder  if  it 
can  be  the  company?" 

He  smiled  across  at  her,  the  sunshine  among 
the  pine  needles  of  the  tree  above  him  throwing 
flecks  of  bright  copper  among  the  thick  locks  of 
his  hair. 

"I  think  the  company  is  usually  an  important 
part  of  all  such  outings,"  she  admitted  frankly. 
"  I  never  took  one  before  in  the  society  of  a  worn- 
out  doctor  who  began  to  look  like  a  boy 
again  before  he  had  finished  his  coffee.  I  really 
shouldn't  know  you  were  the  same  person  who 
invited  me  to  go  on  this  expedition." 

"There's  nothing  like  it  for  renewing  one, 
body  and  mind.  Actual  physical  repose  isn't 


94  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

often  the  best  cure  for  weariness:  it's  change  of 
thought  and  occupation,  particularly  if  the  open 
air  is  a  part  of  the  cure.  I've  forgotten  I  have  a 
care  in  the  world :  all  I  can  think  of  is  —  may  I 
say  it  ?  —  yourself!  I  can't  get  over  the  wonder  of 
seeing  you  turn  from  what  Bob  calls  his  'pretty 
lady'  into  the  girl  I  see  before  me  —  a  girl  who 
looks  about  nineteen,  with  a  capacity  for  good 
sport  in  the  open  air  I  never  dreamed  of." 

"The  open  air  would  renew  everybody's  youth, 
I  think,  if  everybody  would  go  to  living  out-of- 
doors.  We're  through,  aren't  we  ?  There  isn't 
a  crumb  left!  Now  please  go  off  and  let  me  clear 
up  and  pack  away.  That's  always  the  woman's 
part.  Couldn't  you  lie  down  on  that  inviting 
carpet  of  needles  over  there  under  the  big  pine 
and  get  a  bit  of  sleep  ?" 

"Sleep  —  when  I  can  talk  to  you?" 

She  nodded.  "Yes,  indeed.  I'm  not  going  to 
talk  just  now,  anyhow,  so  you  might  as  well  make 
the  best  of  it.  Throw  yourself  down  with  your 
hands  under  your  head,  and  look  up  at  those 
beautiful  boughs.  Please!" 

Rather  reluctantly  he  obeyed,  and  she  could 
see  that,  weary  as  he  undoubtedly  still  was  in 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        95 

spite  of  the  refreshing  meal,  he  really  did  not 
want  to  lose  any  of  her  society.  Lying  at  full 
length  on  his  side,  his  head  propped  on  his  hand, 
talking  in  the  lazy  tone  of  after-dinner  con 
tent  which  had  descended  upon  him,  he  con 
tinued  to  watch  her  as  she  repacked  the  hamper. 
It  was  not  until  she  deliberately  forsook  him  that 
he  gave  up  to  her  wishes.  But  when,  having 
been  out  of  his  sight  for  ten  minutes,  she  peered 
cautiously  through  the  bushes  behind  which 
she  had  screened  herself,  she  saw  what  she  had 
hoped  for.  His  whole  weary  frame  was  stretched 
upon  the  pine-needle  carpet,  the  lines  of  his  face 
were  relaxed,  and  his  eyes  fast  shut. 

The  sun  was  far  down  the  hills  when  he  awoke. 
He  lay  blinking  at  the  low-sweeping  boughs 
above  him  for  a  little  without  realizing  where  he 
was;  then,  as  the  midsummer  stillness  which 
surrounded  him  took  hold  of  his  senses,  he  turned 
his  head  to  recall  to  himself  the  conditions  under 
which  he  had  been  sleeping.  Only  the  hamper 
under  a  tree  close  by  gave  evidence  that  he  was 
here  by  his  own  volition.  He  stared  about,  re 
membering  that  he  had  had  a  companion.  He 
got  somewhat  stiffly  to  his  feet,  discovering  as 


96  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

he  did  so  that  he  had  lain  for  a  long  time  without 
stirring  from  the  position  in  which  slumber  had 
overtaken  him. 

"Mrs.   Lessing!"   he   called. 

From  some  distance  away  came  back  a  blithe 
answer:  "Here,  Doctor  Burns!" 

He  started  in  the  direction  of  the  voice  and 
presently  came  upon  her  sitting  on  a  big  granite 
boulder,  busy  with  a  lapful  of  pine  cones  out  of 
which  she  seemed  to  be  constructing  something. 
She  looked  up,  smiling. 

"Why  in  the  world  did  you  let  me  sleep  all 
the  afternoon  ? "  he  reproached  her. 

"I  should  have  wakened  you  in  ten  minutes 
more.  Have  I  made  you  late  for  your  work  ?  I 
understood  that  you  could  afford  a  few  hours  for 
rest.  You've  only  slept  three." 

"Three!  Good  heavens!  When  I  might  have 
been  spending  them  with  you!" 

He  looked  so  chagrined  that  her  smile  changed 
into  outright  laughter.  '  You  are  very  flattering. 
But  I've  been  taking  much  more  satisfaction  in 
your  repose  than  I  could  possibly  have  done  in 
your  society,  no  matter  how  brilliant  you  might 
have  been." 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        97 

"That's  not  flattering,  but  I  admit  it  has  its 
practical  side.  Those  three  hours*  sleep  in  the 
open  air  have  put  me  on  my  feet  again.  Just 
the  same,  I  want  to  eat  my  cake  and  have  it,  too! 
Promise  me  three  consecutive  hours  of  your  com 
pany  when  I'm  awake,  or  I  shan't  get  over  re 
gretting  what  I've  missed.  Will  you  do  this  again 
with  me  some  September  day  when  I  can  make 
the  time?" 

"I  promise  with  pleasure.  I've  had  a  charm 
ing  afternoon  all  by  myself  and  wandered  all  over 
the  hillside,  dreaming  midsummer  day-dreams. 
We  must  go,  mustn't  we?"  She  stood  up,  her 
hands  full  of  her  work. 

"Tell  me  some  of  them,  won't  you,  while  we 
climb  down  to  the  car  ?"  he  begged. 

"  My  happiest  one,"  she  said  as  they  descended, 
"is  the  making  of  a  country  home  for  little  crippled 
children.  I  think  I've  found  the  spot  —  the  old 
Fairmount  place  —  it's  not  more  than  five  miles 
from  here.  If  I  can  only  buy  it  at  a  reasonable 
figure " 

"Mrs.  Lessing!"  he  broke  in.  "So  that's  the 
sort  of  thing  that  makes  your  day-dreams!  No 
wonder  —  well ! " 


98  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Why  should  you  be  surprised?  Isn't  that  a 
delightful  dream  ?  If  I  can  only  make  it  come 
true-  -" 

"You  can.     Do  you  want  a  visiting  surgeon?'* 

"Of  course  I  do.     Will  you - 

"Why,  Mrs.  Lessing,"  said  he,  stopping  short 
just  below  her  on  the  steep  path  and  looking  up 
into  her  face  with  eyes  of  eager  pleasure,  "that's 
been  one  of  my  dreams  so  long  I  can't  remember 
when  I  began  to  think  about  it.  But  I  haven't 
been  able  to  finance  it  yet,  nor  to  find  time  to  get 
anybody  else  to  do  it.  If  you'll  provide  the  place 
I'll  do  everything  I  can  to  make  it  a  success. 
There  are  no  less  than  four  children  this  minute 
I'm  longing  to  get  into  such  a  home.  We'll  go 
into  partnership  if  you'll  take  me.  I  —  why  —  you 
see,  I  can't  even  talk  straight  about  it!  And  you 
- 1  thought  you  were  a  society  woman ! " 

"I  am  a  society  woman,  I  suppose,"  she  an 
swered  laughing,  "though  our  ideas  might  differ 
as  to  what  that  term  stands  for.  But  why  should 
that  prevent  my  caring  for  this  lovely  plan?" 

"Evidently  it  doesn't.  How  many  sides  have 
you,  anyhow  ?  I've  found  out  two  new  ones 
to-day.  Girl  —  and  patron  saint  - 


HE  PRESCRIBES  FOR  HIMSELF        99 

"Ah,  don't  make  fun  of  me.  I'm  no  girl  and 
very  far  from  an)  kind  of  saint.  Please  help  me 
down  this  four-foot  drop  as  if  I  were  a  very,  very 
old  lady,  for  my  head  is  dizzy  with  joy  that  I've 
found  somebody  to  care  for  my  schemes." 

He  leaped  down  and  held  up  his  arms.  "  Come, 
grandma!"  he  invited,  his  face  full  of  mischief 
and  enthusiasm  and  happiness. 

"I  think  I'll  play  girl,  after  all,"  she  refused 
gaily  and,  accepting  one  hand  only,  swung  her 
self  lightly  down  to  his  side. 

"And  it's  'bracers'  the  fellows  think  they  need 
to  put  the  heart  back  into  them!"  jeered  Red 
Pepper  Burns  to  himself.  "Let  them  try  the 
open  country  and  a  comrade  like  this  —  if  there 
is  another  anywhere  on  earth!  But  they  can't 
have  her!" 


CHAPTER  VII 

IN    WHICH    HE    CONTINUES   TO    SAW  WOOD 

HERE  you  are  at  last,  Red,  you  sinner,  and 
I'm  the  loser.  Ches  and  I've  had  a  bet  on 
since  we  saw  the  Green  Imp  tear  off  just  as  the 
first  guests  were  coming.  I  vowed  it  was  a  fake 
call  and  you'd  never  get  back  till  the  musicians 
were  green-flannelling  their  instruments." 

"  I  knew  he  wouldn't  do  us  a  cut-away  trick 
like  that,"  declared  Arthur  Chester  with  an 
affectionate,  white-gloved  hand  on  Burns's  black- 
clad  arm.  "Not  that  I'd  have  blamed  you  on  a 
night  like  this.  What  people  want  to  give  dances 
for  in  August,  with  the  thermometer  at  the  top  of 
the  tree,  I  don't  know." 

"  Go  along  in,  old  man,  and  see  the  ladies.  Take 
out  Pauline.  Mrs.  Lessing  isn't  dancing.  Make  a 
sitting-out  engagement  with  the  lovely  widow,  then 
bolt  out  here.  That's  my  advice,"  urged  Macauley. 

"  Much  obliged,  I  will.  Wouldn't  have  come 
if  Winifred  hadn't  cornered  me." 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD       101 

"She's  doing  her  duty  by  Pauline,  and  she 
considers  her  duty  isn't  done  till  she's  secured 
the  men  Pauline  wants.  But  I  say  —  when  you 
get  a  look  at  Ellen  you'll  forget  the  rivulets  cours 
ing  down  your  neck.  It's  the  first  time  she's 
worn  anything  not  suggestive  of  past  experiences. 

It's  only  white  to-night,  but "   Macauley's 

pause  was  eloquent. 

Burns  pushed  on  into  the  house,  through  whose 
open  doors  and  windows  came  sounds  of  revelry. 
A  stringed  orchestra  was  playing  somewhere  out 
of  sight,  and  to  its  music  the  late  arrival,  holding 
his  head  well  up  that  he  might  keep  his  collar 
intact  until  the  latest  possible  moment,  set  his 
course  toward  his  hostess. 

Outside,  in  the  bower  which  had  been  made 
of  the  porch,  Chester,  disgracefully  shuffling  off 
the  duties  of  host  and  lounging  with  Macauley 
and  two  or  three  other  of  the  young  married  men, 
reported  through  the  flower-hung  window  the 
progress  of  the  victim  led  to  the  sacrifice. 

"  He's  shouldered  his  way  to  Win  —  he's  shak 
ing  hands  and  trying  not  to  look  hot.  Hi!  Paul 
ine's  sighted  him  already.  She's  making  for  him 
like  the  arrow  to  the  target " 


io2  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"  Or  the  bullet  for  the  hippopotamus,"  suggested 
Macauley  under  his  breath  in  Chester's  ear.  He, 
too,  began  to  reconnoitre. 

"  He's  asking  her  if  she  saved  the  first  one  for 
him,  and  she's  telling  him  she  did  till  the  last 
minute.  Her  card  is  full  now,  but  he  shall  have 
the  last  half  of  this  next  one.  Doesn't  he  look 
overjoyed?"  Chester  chuckled  wickedly. 

"Where's  Ellen?  Why  isn't  she  on  deck  now 
just  as  Red  comes?"  Macauley  'began  to  fume. 
"She's  behaved  nobly  all  the  evening  so  far  —  she 
might  have  a  rational  being  now  for  a  partner  as 
her  reward.  But  I  presume  she's  sitting  out  some 
where  with  that  chump  of  a  Wardlaw  —  he 
follows  her  like  a  shadow  and  she's  too  kind- 
hearted  to  shake  him.  She's  - 

A  voice  speaking  softly  from  the  lawn  below 
the  porch  interrupted  him.  "Is  Doctor  Burns 
here?"  it  asked. 

Chester  went  over  to  the  rail.  "He's  only 
just  come,  you  know,  Miss  Mathewson.  You 
don't  have  to  call  him  out  this  minute,  do 
you?" 

"  I'm  sorry,  Mr.  Chester,  but  I'm  afraid  I  must. 
The  call  is  very  urgent." 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD       103 

'Tell  'em  to  get  somebody  else." 

"  Doctor  Burns  wouldn't  like  it  —  they're  special 
friends  of  his." 

"Oh,  well  —  I  suppose  he'll  see  the  bright  side 
of  getting  out  of  that  Turkish  bath  in  there,  but 
I  must  say  I  wish  I  didn't  have  to  pull  through 
this  whole  affair  without  his  support,"  grumbled 
Chester  as  he  went  in  to  find  Burns,  now  disap 
peared  into  the  inner  rooms  where  the  music 
came  from. 

Red  Pepper  came  out  looking  the  name  more 
than  usual,  for  three  rounds  of  the  floor  had 
brought,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  every  drop  of  blood 
to  his  face,  and  his  hair  clung  damply  to  his  brow. 
He  held  a  brief  colloquy  with  his  office  nurse. 

"No  way  out;  I'll  have  to  go,  Ches,"  said  he 
with  ill-concealed  joy. 

"  But  you'll  hustle  ?  You'll  make  one  more 
try  of  it?"  begged  Chester.  "This  thing  won't 
break  up  early:  not  with  PauHne  pushing  it. 
You'll  be  back  in  time  to  be  taken  out  and 
fed?" 

"Try  to,"  and  Burns  disappeared  off  the  end 
of  the  porch. 

"  Lucky  dog,"  gloomed  Macauley.     "  The  call's 


104  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

five  miles  out  on  the  road  to  the  city.  I'd  like 
to  be  in  the  Green  Imp  for  the  spin  Red'll  make 
of  it.  By  George!  I- 

He  broke  off  suddenly,  gave  a  hasty  look  around, 
and  bolted  off  the  end  of  the  porch  into  the  semi- 
darkness  of  the  lawn.  He  ran  across  behind  the 
houses  to  his  own  back  porch,  procured  a  dust- 
coat  from  within  and  dashed  back,  regardless  of 
the  bodily  heat  he  was  generating.  As  the  Green 
Imp  backed  out  of  the  barn  Macauley  swung 
himself  into  the  unoccupied  seat. 

Burns,  also  in  dust-coat  pulled  on  over  his 
evening  clothes,  grinned  cheerfully.  "Deserter  ?" 
he  queried. 

"You'll  be  back  within  the  hour,  won't  you?" 

"  Less  than  that,  probably.  The  Imp's  running 
like  a  bird  to-night:  show  you  her  paces  when 
we  get  out.  Hi,  there!  Who's  that  chasing  us  ! 
Well,  of  all  the  — you,  too,  Ches  ?" 

Panting,  Chester  flung  himself  upon  the  run 
ning-board  just  as  the  car  turned  out  of  the  yard. 
"Had  a  hunt  for  my  coat  —  nearly  lost  you!" 
he  gasped. 

Burns  stopped  the  car.  "See  here,  sonny," 
he  expostulated.  "You  happen  to  be  host,  you 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD       105 

know.  I  might  be  detained  out  there,  though  I 
don't  expect  it." 

"I'll  take  the  trolley  back  if  you  are,"  replied 
Chester,  settling  himself.  "I  can't  stand  it  to 
see  you  fellows  cut  away  out  of  the  pow-wow 
and  not  go,  too.  I'll  take  my  chances." 

"So  be  it!"  and,  laughing,  with  a  glance  back 
at  the  gaily  lighted  house,  Burns  sent  the  car  on  her 
course.  "You  two  are  always  bragging  up  the 
married  life,"  he  remarked  as  the  Green  Imp 
gathered  speed,  "but  it  strikes  me  you're  pretty 
eager  to  get  away  from  the  glories  of  your  wives' 
entertaining." 

"It's  one  curious  thing,"  admitted  Macauley 
thoughtfully,  "that  no  matter  how  harmonious 
a  couple  may  be  they're  bound  to  differ  on  what 
does  and  does  not  constitute  entertainment." 

"Of  course,  a  girl  like  Pauline  always  wants 
to  dance,  no  matter  how  torrid  the  night,"  ex 
plained  Chester.  "Win  and  I  have  to  consider 
our  guest's  wish.  But  you  can  bet  Paul  isn't 
getting  her  wish  —  not  with  R.  P.  Burns  running 
around  the  country  all  the  evening  and  only 
making  five-minute  stops  at  her  side." 

By  the  speed  with  which  the  Green  Imp  swal- 


io6  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

lowed  the  ground  it  looked  as  if  Burns  might  make 
several  such  trips  and  still  interpolate  a  number 
of  "five-minute  stops"  before  the  affair  at  the 
Chester  house  should  be  over.  Before  his  pas 
sengers  were  well  aware  of  the  distance  they  had 
covered  he  pulled  up  in  front  of  a  small  cottage. 
They  settled  themselves  comfortably  to  await  a 
fifteen-minute  stay,  but  in  five  he  was  out  again. 
Both  dust-coat  and  clawhammer  were  off — his 
sleeves  were  rolled  to  the  elbow. 

"  I'm  in  for  it,  boys,"  he  said.  "  Can't  get  away 
under  two  hours  at  the  shortest.  Sorry.  But 
they  didn't  let  me  know  what  they  wanted  me  for, 
and  I'm  caught.  You'll  have  to  drive  home. 
Call  up  Johnny  Caruthers  and  let  him  bring 
back  the  Imp  and  Miss  Mathewson.  I  can't 
be  spared  long  enough  to  go  myself,  so  take  her 
this  note  to  tell  her  what  to  bring.  Get  busy, 
now." 

He  handed  Macauley  a  hasty  scrawl  on  a  pre 
scription  blank,  and  smiled  at  the  discomfited  faces 
of  his  two  friends  showing  plainly  in  the  lights 
which  streamed  from  the  house. 

"You  look  blamed  pleased  over  your  job," 
growled  Macauley. 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD      107 

"I  like  the  job  all  right,"  admitted  Burns; 
"  particularly  when  contrasted  with " 

"  You  wouldn't  say  it  if  you'd  caught  one  glimpse 
of  Mrs.  L.  -  "  called  back  Chester,  as  the  Imp 
responded  somewhat  erratically  to  Macauley's 
unaccustomed  touch.  But  all  the  answer  they 
got  was  an  emphatic  "Don't  change  gears  as  if 
you  were  running  a  thrashing  machine,  Mac." 

It  was  two  hours  and  a  half  later  that  Burns 
came  out  of  the  small  cottage  again,  wiping  a  damp 
face,  his  white  shirt-front  a  pathetic  ruin,  his 
hastily-reassumed  white  waistcoat  and  tie  decided 
ly  the  worse  for  having  been  carelessly  handled. 
But  his  face,  when  he  turned  it  toward  the  stars 
as  he  crossed  the  tiny  patch  of  a  flower-bordered 
yard,  was  a  contented  one. 

"It  pays  up  all  the  arrears  when  you  can  leave 
a  chunk  of  happiness  behind  you  as  big  as  that 
one,"  he  said  to  himself.  Johnny  Caruthers  had 
gone  home  by  trolley  long  ago,  and  Miss  Mathew- 
son  was  to  remain  for  the  night  and  return  with  the 
doctor  when  he  came  for  his  morning  after-visit. 
Burns  sent  the  Green  Imp  off  at  a  moderate  pace, 
musing  as  he  drove  through  the  now  moderated 
and  refreshing  air  of  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 


io8  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Party  must  be  about  over  by  now;  think  it'll 
adjourn  without  seeing  any  more  of  Red  Pepper 
and  his  misused  dress  clothes,"  he  reflected.  "I 
suppose  those  dancing  puppets  think  they've  had 
a  good  time,  but  it  isn't  in  it  with  mine.  Bless 
the  little  woman:  she's  happy  over  her  first  boy! 
He's  a  winner,  too.  As  for  Tom,  I  could  have 
tipped  him  over  with  a  nod  of  the  head  when  he 
was  thanking  me  for  leaving  the  merry-go-round 
to  stand  by.  It  must  feel  pretty  good  to  be  the 
father  of  a  promising  specimen  like  that.  Must 
beat  the  adopting  business  several  leagues.  And 
that's  not  saying  that  Bobby  Burns  isn't  the  best 
thing  that  ever  happened  to  R.  P." 

Philosophizing  thus,  he  presently  sent  the  Green 
Imp  at  her  quietest  pace  in  at  the  home  driveway. 
The  Chester  house  was  still  brilliantly  illumined; 
his  own  dark  except  for  the  dim  light  in  the 
office  and  —  he  discovered  it  as  he  rounded  the 
turn  —  a  sort  of  half-radiance  coming  from  the 
windows  of  his  own  room,  where  Bob  slept  in  the 
small  bed  beside  his  own.  Burns  gazed  anxiously 
at  this,  for  it  showed  that  somebody  had  turned 
on  the  hooded  electric.  He  was  accustomed  to 
leave  the  door  open  into  his  private  office,  in 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD  109 
which  a  light  was  always  burning,  and  with  this 
Bob  had  hitherto  been  satisfied. 

"He  must  have  waked  up  and  called  for  Cyn 
thia,"  he  decided.  Housing  the  Imp,  he  quietly 
crossed  the  lawn  to  the  window,  avoiding  any 
sound  of  footsteps  on  the  gravelled  paths.  Both 
windows,  screened  by  wire  and  awnings,  were 
wide  open;  he  could  see  with  ease  into  the  room, 
for  the  house  was  an  old  one  and  stood  low. 
Climbing  wistaria  vines  wreathed  the  windows, 
and  sheltered  by  these  he  found  himself  secure 
from  observation. 

For  after  the  first  look  he  became  exceedingly 
anxious  not  to  be  discovered.  He  had  come 
home  in  the  stirred  and  gentle  mood  often  brought 
upon  him  by  his  part  in  such  a  scene  as  the  one 
he  had  lately  left  behind  him.  In  the  first  wave  of 
joy  swept  by  a  birth  into  a  home,  whether  humble 
or  exalted,  the  man  who  has  been  of  service  in 
the  hour  of  trial  is  often  caught  and  lifted  into  a 
sympathetic  pleasure  which  lasts  for  some  time 
after  he  has  gone  on  to  less  satisfying  work. 
Burns  had  often  jeered  gently  at  himself  for  being, 
as  he  considered,  more  than  ordinarily  susceptible 
to  a  sort  of  odd  tenderness  of  feeling  under  such 


no  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

conditions,  and  as  he  stared  in  at  the  scene  before 
him  he  was  uneasily  conscious  that  he  could  not 
have  come  upon  it  at  a  more  vulnerable  moment. 

Bobby  Burns  was  sitting  straight  up  in  bed,  his 
cheeks  flushed,  his  eyelids  reddened  as  if  with 
prolonged  crying,  but  his  small  face  radiant  with 
happiness  as  he  regarded  his  companion,  his 
plump  little  fist  thrust  tight  into  the  hand  which 
held  his.  In  a  chair  close  beside  him  sat  a  figure 
in  silvery  white;  bare,  beautifully-moulded  arms, 
from  which  the  gloves  had  been  pulled  and  flung 
aside  upon  the  bed,  gleaming  in  the  glow  from 
the  hooded  light. 

Black  head  was  close  to  black  head,  her  black 
lashes  and  his  disclosed  dark  eyes  curiously  alike 
in  the  distracting  glance  of  them;  even  the  colour 
ing  of  the  faces  was  similar,  for  both  showed  the 
warm  and  peachy  hues  laid  there  by  the  summer 
sun. 

"They  might  easily  be  mother  and  son,"  was 
the  thought  forced  upon  the  spectator.  His  own 
cheek  suddenly  burned,  in  the  shadow  of  the 
wistaria  vines. 

He  listened  abstractedly  to  the  conclusion  of 
the  story:  it  must  have  been  a  charming  tale, 


BOBBY     BURNS    WAS    SITTING    STRAIGHT   UP    IN    BED 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD      in 

for  the  boy's  cry  of  regret  when  it  ended  was  elo 
quent.  But  the  eavesdropper  heard  with  full 
appreciation  the  richness  of  the  low  voice  and 
could  not  wonder  at  Bob's  delight  in  it.  He 
watched  with  absorbed  eyes  the  embrace  exchanged 
between  the  two  and,  forgetting  to  be  cautious, 
allowed  his  shifted  foot  to  crunch  the  gravel  under 
the  window. 

Quicker  than  thought  the  light  went  out. 
Burns  made  for  the  office  door,  consumed  with 
eagerness  to  catch  her  before  she  could  get  away. 
But  when  he  set  foot  upon  the  threshold  of  his 
room  only  the  little  figure,  pulling  itself  again  erect 
in  the  bed,  met  his  eyes  in  the  dim  light  issuing  from 
the  office,  and  otherwise  the  room  was  empty. 

"Nobody  heard  me  cryin*  but  her,"  explained 
Bob  to  his  questioning  guardian.  "Cynthia  was 
all  goned  away  and  I  heard  the  fiddles  and  they 
made  me  cry.  She  corned  in  and  told  me  stories. 
I  love  her.  But  she  wented  awful  quick  out  that 
way."  He  pointed  toward  a  French  window 
opening  like  a  door  upon  the  lawn.  "I  wish  she 
didn't  go  so  quick.  She  looked  awful  pretty, 
all  white  and  shiny.  She  loves  me,  I  think,  don't 
you?" 


ii2  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Of  course,  old  man.  That's  your  particular 
good  luck  —  eh  ?  Now  lie  down  and  go  to  sleep 
and  tell  me  all  about  it  in  the  morning." 

"Aren't  you  going  back  to  the  party  ?"  queried 
Bob  anxiously. 

"Hardly."  Burns  glanced  humorously  down 
at  his  attire.  "But  I'm  not  going  to  bed  just  yet, 
so  shut  your  eyes.  I'll  not  be  far  away." 

The  child  obeyed.  Exchanging  the  claw-ham 
mer  ^  for  his  office  coat,  Burns  went  out  by 
way  of  the  French  window  to  the  rear  of  the 
house. 

An  hour  afterward  Arthur  Chester,  putting  out 
lights,  discovered  from  a  back  window  a  familiar 
Sgure  at  a  familiar  occupation.  But  at  this  hour 
of  the  night  the  sight  struck  him  as  so  extra 
ordinary  that,  curiosity  afire,  he  hurriedly  let  him 
self  out  of  the  side  door  he  had  just  locked,  and 
crossed  the  lawn. 

"In  the  name  of  all  lunatics,  Red,  why  sawing 
wood  ?  It  can't  be  ill  temper  at  missing  the 
show?" 

In  the  August  moonlight  the  figure  straightened 
iteslf  and  laid  down  the  saw.  "Go  to  bed,  and 
don't  bother  your  addle  pate  about  your  neigh- 


HE  CONTINUES  TO  SAW  WOOD      113 

hours.  Can't  a  man  cut  up  a  few  sticks  without 
your  coming  to  investigate  ?" 

"Saw  a  few  more.  You  haven't  got  the  full 
dose  necessary  yet,"  advised  Chester,  his  hands 
in  his  pockets.  "Want  me  to  sit  up  with  you  till 
you  work  it  all  off?" 

"It's  beginning  to  look  as  if  it  wouldn't  work 
off,"  muttered  R.  P.  Burns. 

"Must  be  a  worse  attack  than  usual.  How 
long  have  you  been  at  it  ? " 

"Don't  know." 

"Sawed  that  whole  heap  at  the  side  there?" 

"Suppose  so." 

"Lost  a  patient?" 

"No." 

"Blow  out  a  tire?" 

"No." 

"Bad  news  of  any  sort?" 

"No.     Go  to  bed." 

"  I  feel  I  oughn't  to  leave  you,"  persisted  Ches 
ter.  "Don't  you  think  it  might  ease  your  mind 
to  tell  me  about  it  ? " 

Burns  came  at  him  with  the  saw,  and 
Chester  fled.  Burns  went  back  to  his  woodpile, 
marshalled  the  sawed  sticks  into  orderly  ranks, 


n4  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

then  stood  still  once  more  and  once  more  looked 
up  at  the  stars. 

"  If  an  hour  of  that  on  a  night  like  this  won't  take 
the  nonsense  out  of  me,"  he  solemnly  explained  to 
a  bright  particular  planet  now  low  in  the  heavens, 
"I  must  be  past  help.  But  I'll  be  —  drawn  and 
quartered  —  if  I'll  give  in.  Haven't  I  had 
knockouts  enough  to  be  able  to  keep  my  head  this 
time  ?  Red  Pepper  Burns,  'Remember  the  Maine' 
Now,  go  to  bed  yourself!" 


CHAPTER  VIII 

IN  WHICH  HE  IS  UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED 

RED  PEPPER  BURNS,  put  down  that  stuff 
and  come  over.  It's  nine  o'clock,  and 
Pauline  goes  to-morrow,  as  you  very  well  know. 
And  not  only  Paul,  but  Mrs.  Lessing.  Paul's 
persuaded  her  to  start  when  she  does,  though  she 
wasn't  expecting  to  go  for  three  days  longer." 

R.  P.  Burns  looked  up  abstractedly.  "Can't 
come  now.  I'm  busy,"  he  replied,  and  imme 
diately  became  reabsorbed  in  the  big  book  he 
was  studying. 

Chester  gazed  at  him  amazedly*.  He  sat  at 
the  desk  in  the  inner  office,  surrounded  by  books, 
medical  magazines,  foreign  reviews  in  both  French 
and  German,  as  Chester  discovered  on  approach 
ing  more  closely,  by  loose  anatomical  plates,  by 
sheets  of  paper  covered  with  rough  sketches  of 
something  —  it  looked  more  like  a  snake  in  con 
vulsions  than  anything  else.  Evidently  Burns 
was  deep  in  some  sort  of  professional  research. 


n6  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

It  was  not  that  the  sight  was  an  unaccustomed 
one.  There  could  be  no  question  that  R.  P. 
Burns,  M.D.,  was  a  close  student;  this  was  not 
the  first  nor  the  fortieth  time  that  his  friend  had 
thus  discovered  him.  The  view  to  be  had  from 
the  point  where  Chester  stood,  of  the  small  labor 
atory  opening  from  this  office,  was  also  a  familiar 
one.  He  could  see  steam  arising  from  the  ster 
ilizer:  he  knew  surgical  instruments  were  boiling 
merrily  away  there.  A  table  was  littered  with 
objects  suggesting  careful  examination:  a  fine 
microscope  in  position;  a  centrefuge,  Bunsen  burn 
ers,  test-tubes;  elsewhere  other  apparatus  of  a 
description  to  make  the  uninitiated  actively 
sympathetic  with  the  presumable  coming  victim. 

The  point  of  the  situation  to  Chester  was  the 
astonishing  fact  that  Burns  could  hear  unmoved 
of  the  immediate  departure  of  Ellen  Lessing.  He 
made  up  his  mind  that  this  scientific  enthusiast 
could  not  have  assimilated  the  dreadful  news; 
he  would  try  again. 

"Red!  Do  you  hear?  She's  going  to-morrow 
-  to-morrow!" 

"  Let  her  go.     Don't  bother  me." 

"I   don't  mean  Pauline.     Ellen's  going,  too." 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      117 

Burns  put  up  one  sinewy  hand  and  thrust  it 
through  his  hair,  which  already  stood  on  end. 
His  collar  was  off  and  he  wore  a  laboratory  apron: 
his  appearance  was  not  prepossessing.  He  pulled 
a  piece  of  paper  toward  him  and  began  to  make 
rapid  lines.  It  was  the  snake  again,  in  worse 
convulsions  than  before.  Evidently  he  had  not 
heard.  Chester  approached  the  desk. 

"Red!"  he  shouted.  "The  patient  isn't  on  the 
table  yet:  he  won't  die  if  you  listen  to  me  one 
minute.  I  want  you  to  take  this  thing  in.  Mrs. 
Lessing " 

Knocking  the  sketch  to  one  side  and  preci 
pitating  three  books  and  a  mass  of  papers  to  the 
floor,  Red  stood  up.  He  towered  above  his 
shrinking  friend,  wrath  in  his  eye.  His  lips  moved. 
If  it  had  been  three  months  earlier  Chester 
would  have  expected  to  hear  language  of  a  lurid 
description.  As  it  was,  the  first  syllable  or  two 
did  slip  out,  but  no  more  followed.  Only  speech 
-  good,  vigorous  Saxon,  not  to  be  misunderstood. 

"Will  you  try  to  get  it  into  your  brain  that  I 
don't  care  a  hang  who  goes  or  where,  so  long  as  I 
figure  out  a  way  to  do  this  trick  ?  The  other 
fellows  all  say  it  can't  be  done.  Not  one  of  'em'll 


u8  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

do  it,  not  even  Van  Horn.  I  say  it  can,  and  I'm 
going  to  do  it  to-morrow  morning  at  nine  o'clock, 
if  I  can  work  out  a  tool  to  do  it  with  and  make  it. 
And  I  can  do  that  if  idiots  like  you  will  get  out  and 
keep  out/' 

He  sat  down  and  was  instantly  lost  again  in  his 
effort  at  invention.  Chester  looked  at  him  in  silence 
for  a  minute  more,  then  he  walked  quietly  out. 
Offended  ?  Not  he.  He  had  not  listened  to 
invective  from  that  Celtic  tongue  for  eight  years 
not  to  know  that  high  tension  over  a  coming 
critical  operation  almost  invariably  meant  brilliant 
success.  But  even  he  had  never  seen  Red  Pepper 
keyed  up  quite  so  taut  as  this.  It  must  be  a 
tremendous  risk  he  meant  to  take.  Success  to 
him  —  the  queer,  fine  old  boy! 

"He  may  be  over  later  when  he  gets  that  con 
founded  snake  of  an  instrument  figured  out." 
Chester  offered  this  to  the  group  upon  his  porch 
as  consolation. 

"And  if  he  doesn't  get  it  figured  out  before  we 

break  up,  he  won't  be  over,"  prophesied  Macauley. 

'Ten  to  one  he  forgets  to  come  and  say  good-bye 

before  he  starts  for  the  hospital  in  the  morning." 

"I'm  going  to  be  standing  beside  the  driveway 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      119 

when  he  goes/'  vowed  Pauline.  "And  If  he 
doesn't  notice  me  I'll  climb  on  the  car." 

"Ellen,  don't  go  to-morrow,"  whispered  Martha 
Macauley  to  her  sister.  "Don't  let  it  end  this 
way.  When  he  comes  to,  you'll  be  gone,  and 
that's  such  a  pity  just  now." 

"But  I  think  I  would  rather  be  gone,  dear," 
Ellen  Lessing  whispered  back. 

"Oh,  why?  When  Red's  excited  over  a  big 
success  he's  simply  off  his  head  —  there's  no 
knowing  what  he  won't  do." 

"I  prefer  him  when  he  has  his  head.  Don't 
urge,  Martha.  I've  promised  to  go  in  the  morning 
with  Pauline,  and  nothing  could  make  me  change." 

"It's  a  shame  for  him  to  be  so  absorbed.  Who 
wants  a  man  who  can  forget  the  existence  of  a 
woman  like  that?" 

"  Who  wants  one  who  can't  ?  A  sorry  surgeon 
he'd  be  —  his  hand  would  shake.  Don't  talk 
about  it  any  more,  dear.  I'm  going  to  enjoy  this 
evening  with  you  all.  And  I  hope  —  oh,  how  I 
hope  —  that  operation  will  be  a  success!" 

If  it  were  not  to  be  a  success  it  would  not  be  the 
fault  of  the  man  who  worked  till  one  o'clock  — 
two  o'clock  —  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  to 


120  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

perfect  the  strangely  convoluted  tool  which  was 
to  help  "do  the  trick"  if  it  could  be  done.  Part  of 
the  work  was  done  in  the  laboratory,  part  in  the 
machine  shop  which  occupied  a  corner  of  the  old 
red  barn,  where  the  Green  Imp  lent  her  lamps 
as  aids  to  the  task  in  hand.  At  four,  the  instru 
ment  finished,  sterilized,  and  put  away  as  if 
it  were  worth  its  weight  in  gold  —  which  it 
might  easily  have  been  if  it  were  to  prove  fitted 
to  the  peculiar  need  —  Burns  went  to  bed.  At 
six  he  was  up  again,  had  a  cold  plunge  and  a 
hearty  breakfast,  and  at  seven  was  sending  the 
Imp  out  of  the  gateway,  his  office  nurse  be 
side  him.  If  Mrs.  Lessing  hoped  the  operation 
would  be  a  success,  Miss  Mathewson  hoped  and 
feared  and  longed  with  all  her  soul.  Beneath  the 
uniform  and  behind  the  quiet,  plain  face  of  the 
young  woman  who  had  been  R.  P.  Burns's  pro 
fessional  assistant  for  eight  years,  lived  a  person 
than  whom  none  cared  more  how  things  went 
with  him.  But  nobody  knew  that  —  least  of  all 
Burns  himself.  He  only  knew  that  he  could  not 
get  on  without  her;  that  never  a  suture  that  she 
had  prepared  made  trouble  for  him  after  an 
operation;  and  that  none  other  of  the  hundred 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      121 

nice  details  upon  which  the  astounding  results  of 
modern  surgery  depend  was  likely  to  go  wrong 
if  it  were  she  who  was  responsible. 

At  five  o'clock  that  afternoon  the  Green  Imp 
came  back.  Arthur  Chester  had  just  returned 
from  the  office  and  had  thrown  himself  into  a 
hammock  on  the  porch,  for  the  September  weather 
was  like  that  of  June.  Catching  the  throbbing 
purr  of  the  Imp  as  the  car  swung  in  at  the  drive 
way  Chester  jumped  up.  Burns  flung  out  a 
triumphant  arm;  Miss  Mathewson  was  smiling. 

"By  George,  the  old  boy's  won  out!"  Chester 
said  to  himself,  and  hurried  down  to  meet  the  Imp. 
"All  over  but  the  shouting,  Red  ?"  he  questioned 
eagerly. 

"All  over."     Burns's  face  was  aflame. 

"  Pull  up  and  tell  me  about  it." 

The  car  came  to  a  standstill.  "Nothing  to  tell. 
The  curve  I  got  on  that  bit  of  steel  did  the 
work,  around  the  corner  and  inside  out.  The 
fellows  said  it  wouldn't;  stood  around  and  croaked 
for  an  hour  beforehand.  Lord!  I'd  have  died 
myself  before  I'd  have  failed  after  that." 

"Should  have  thought  they'd  have  unsettled 
your  nerve,"  declared  Chester,  looking  as  if  he 


122  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

would    like    personally   to    pitch   into   the  entire 
medical  profession. 

"Didn't.  Just  made  me  mad.  I  can  do  any 
thing  when  I'm  mad  —  if  I  can  keep  my  mouth 
shut."  Burns  laughed  rather  shamefacedly. 
"That's  the  one  advantage  of  a  temper.  I  say, 
Ches,  don't  you  want  to  go  with  me  ?  There  are 
probably  half  a  dozen  calls  waiting  at  the 
office.  I'll  run  and  see." 

He  jumped  out,  seized  his  surgical  handbags 
and  hurried  away.  Miss  Mathewson  descended 
more  deliberately,  Chester  plying  her  with  eager 
questions  as  he  assisted  her.  "How  was  it? 
Pretty  big  feather  in  his  cap,  Miss  Mathewson?" 

"Indeed  it  was,  Mr.  Chester.  Every  one  of  the 
other  city  surgeons  said  it  couldn't  be  done  without 
killing  the  patient.  They  all  admitted  that  if 
she  survived  the  operation  she  would  have 
every  chance  for  recovery.  They  were  all  there 
to  see.  I  never  knew  them  all  there  at  once 
before." 

"It  would  be  ungenerous  to  imagine  they 
wanted  him  to  fail,"  chuckled  Chester,  "  but  we're 
all  human.  How  did  they  take  it  when  he 
succeeded  ?" 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      123 

"They  remembered  they  were  gentlemen  and 
scientists,"  declared  Miss  Mathewson  -  "all  but 
one  or  two  who  aren't  worth  mentioning.  When 
they  saw  he  had  done  it,  they  began  to  clap.  I 
don't  believe  there  was  ever  such  a  burst  of 
applause  in  that  surgery." 

"What  did  the  old  fellow  do?  Tried  to  look 
modest,  I  suppose,"  laughed  Chester,  glowing 
with  pride  and  pleasure. 

"  He  was  white  all  through  the  operation  —  he 
always  is,  with  the  strain.  But  he  turned  red  all 
over  when  they  cheered,  and  just  said:  'Thank 
you,  gentlemen/  It  really  was  a  wonderful  thing, 
Mr.  Chester,  even  in  these  days.  Only  one  man 
has  done  it,  a  German,  and  he  has  done  it  only 
twice.  Doctor  Burns  will  be  distinguished  after 
this." 

"Good  for  him!  No  wonder  he  looks  the  way 
he  does  —  as  if  he'd  like  to  turn  a  few  hand 
springs,"  Chester  reflected  as  he  watched  the 
nurse's  trim  figure  walk  away. 

Burns  came  back.  "Jump  in,"  he  said. 
"Work  enough  to  keep  me  busy  till  bedtime.  If 
there  hadn't  been,  I'd  have  proposed  a  beefsteak 
in  the  woods  by  way  of  a  celebration  and  a  let- 


124  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

down.  I'm  beginning  to  get  a  bit  of  reaction,  of 
course;  should  have  liked  an  hour  or  two  of  jollity. 
You  and  Win,  and  Mrs.  Lessing  and  I  might 
have-  -" 

"Mrs.  Lessing!  You  old  chump,  don't  you 
remember  she's  gone  ?  Why,  Mac  started  for 
the  train  with  them  all  in  his  car,  not  ten  minutes 
before  you  came.  They  haven't  been  gone  fifteen. 
I  begged  off  from  going  along  because  I  was 
dusty  and  tired.  Just  got  home  myself." 

R.  P.  Burns,  making  the  circuit  of  the  driveway 
behind  the  houses  and  now  turning  the  Imp's 
nose  toward  the  street  again,  stared  at  his  friend 
in  amazement. 

"Why,  she  wasn't  going  till  day  after  to-mor 
row!"  he  exclaimed. 

"I  came  over  last  night,"  drawled  Chester  in  a 
long-suffer  ing  tone,  "and  explained  to  you  and 
shouted  at  you  and  tried  in  every  way  to  ram  the 
idea  into  your  head  that  Pauline  had  wheedled 
Mrs.  Lessing  to  start  when  she  did,  because  their 
routes  lay  together  as  far  as  Washington.  You 
put  me  out,  calling  me  names  and  generally  in 
sulting  me.  It's  all  right,  of  course.  She's  to 
spend  the  winter  in  South  Carolina,  but  she'll  be 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      125 

back  next  summer.  You  can  say  good-bye  to  her 
then.  It'll  do  just  as  well." 

Burns's  watch  was  in  his  hand.  "What  time 
does  that  train  go?"  he  demanded. 

"Five-thirty.  You  can't  make  it."  Chester's 
watch  was  also  out.  "What  do  you  care  ?  Send 
her  a  picture  postcard  explaining  that  you  forgot 
all  about  her  until  it  was  too 

The  last  word  was  jerked  back  into  his  throat 
by  the  jump  of  the  Green  Imp.  She  shot  out  of 
the  driveway  like  a  stone  out  of  a  catapult,  and 
was  off  down  the  mile  road  to  the  station.  All 
conveyances  going  to  that  train  had  passed  a 
quarter-hour  before,  and  the  course  was  nearly 
clear. 

"  There's  the  train's  smoke  at  the  tunnel.  You 
can't  do  it,"  asserted  Chester,  pointing  to  the  black 
hole  a  few  rods  to  one  side  of  the  station  whence  a 
gray  cloud  was  issuing.  "She  only  makes  a  two- 
minute  stop.  You  won't  more  than  get  on  board 
before-  -" 

"If  I  get  on  board  you  drive  into  the  city  and 
meet  me  there,  will  you  ?"  begged  Burns. 

"I  can't  drive  the  Imp,  Red;  you  know  I  can't." 

"Then  'phone  Johnny  Caruthers  from  the  sta- 


126  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

tion  and  send  him  in  for  me.  That'll  give  me 
fifteen  minutes  on  the  train." 

"What's  the  use?  Pauline'll  be  at  your  elbow 
every  minute.  She'll  - 

But  Burns  was  paying  no  attention.  He  was 
taking  the  Imp  past  a  lumbering  farm-wagon  with 
only  two  inches  to  spare  between  himself  and  the 
ditch.  Then  the  car  was  at  the  station,  Burns  was 
out  and  through  the  building,  through  the  gate  and 
upon  the  slowly-moving  train  after  a  moment's 
hasty  argument  with  a  conductor  to  whom  he 
could  show  no  ticket.  On  the  platform  James 
Macauley,  Junior,  and  Martha  Macauley,  Wini 
fred  Chester,  and  four  small  children  of  assorted 
ages  stared  after  the  big  figure  bolting  into  the 
Pullman.  Bobby  Burns  gave  a  shriek  of  delight 
followed  by  a  wail  of  disappointment. 

"By  George,  he's  turned  up,  after  all!"  exulted 
Macauley,  and  the  two  women  looked  at  each 
other  with  meaning,  relieved  glances. 

In  the  car,  the  passengers  observed  interestedly 
the  spectacle  of  a  large  man  with  a  mop  of  fiery 
red  hair,  from  which  he  had  pulled  a  leather  cap, 
striding,  dust-covered,  into  the  car  and  up  to  the 
two  prettiest  young  women  there.  One  of  these, 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      127 

very  smartly  clad  in  blue,  received  him  with  looks 
half  gay,  half  pouting,  and  with  a  storm  of  talk. 
The  other,  in  gray,  with  a  face  upon  which  no 
eye  could  rest  once  without  covertly  or  openly 
returning  in  deference  to  its  charm,  gave  him  a 
quiet  hand  and  turned  away  again  to  wave  her 
farewell  to  the  group  of  friends  on  the  platform. 

'Take  my  chair  and  I'll  perch  on  the  arm  of 
Ellen's,"  commanded  Pauline,  "while  you  explain, 
apologize  and  try  to  make  your  peace  with  us. 
You'll  find  it  hard  work.  I  may  smile  for  the 
sake  of  appearances,  but  inside  I'm  really  awfully 
angry.  So  is  Ellen,  though  she  doesn't  show  it." 

Thus  Pauline,  indefinitely  prolonged  and  re 
peated,  with  variations,  interpolations.,  inter 
ruptions.  It  didn't  matter;  Redfield  Pepper 
Burns  heard  none  of  it.  Even  with  Pauline 
"perching"  on  the  arm  of  Ellen  Lessing's  chair, 
her  face  within  eight  inches  of  the  other  face,  she 
was  not  within  the  field  of  his  vision. 

"I  am  sure  the  operation  was  successful,"  said 
Mrs.  Lessing. 

"One  can  see  it  in  his  eyes,"  declared  Paul 
ine.  "I  never  knew  hazel  eyes  could  be  so  bril- 
Hant " 


128  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"It  went  through,"  admitted  Burns.  "It  had 
to,  you  know.  And  I  had  a  thing  to  make  last 
evening  — 

"Arthur  told  us  about  it,"  chattered  Pauline. 
''It  was  like  a  sna  - 

"You  didn't  miss  my  not  coming  over,"  said 
Burns.  He  was  leaning  forward,  his  hands  on 
his  knees,  his  rumpled  head  near  enough  so  that 
very  low  tones  could  reach  the  person  to  whom  he 
spoke.  He  did  not  once  look  at  Pauline.  One 
would  have  thought  that  that  fact  alone  would 
have  quieted  her,  but  it  did  not. 

"Indeed  we  did — awfully!"  cried  Pauline. 
"We-  -" 

"Neither  did  I  myself,  then,  Mrs.  Lessing.  I 
miss  it  now.  I  shall  miss  it  more  whenever  I 
think  about  it.  I  don't  know  of  but  one  thing 
that  can  possibly  make  it  up  to  me  - 

"Name  it!  You  don't  deserve  it,  but  our 
hearts  are  rather  tender,  and  we  might  grant  —  " 
Pauline  looked  arch.  But  what  was  the  use  ? 
Nobody  saw.  Even  the  passengers  were  watch 
ing  the  one  in  gray.  Spectators  always  watch  the 
woman  at  whom  the  man  is  looking.  And  in  this 
case  it  seemed  well  worth  while,  for  even  the  most 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      129 

admirable  reserve  of  manner  could  not  control 
the  tell-tale  colour  which  was  slowly  mounting 
under  the  direct  and  continued  gaze  of  the  man 
with  the  red  hair.  The  man  himself,  it  occurred 
to  more  than  one  passenger,  was  rather  well  worth 
study. 

"It's  always  been  a  theory  of  mine  that  no 
woman  can  know  a  man  until  she's  exchanged 
letters  with  him  for  a  considerable  period  of 
time  —  say,  a  winter,"  Burns  went  on.  Pauline 
made  some  sort  of  an  exclamation,  but  he  failed 
to  notice  it —  "Neither  can  a  man  know  a  woman. 
It's  a  stimulating  experience.  Suppose  we  try 
it?" 

"  How  often  do  you  propose  to  write  to  us  ? " 
inquired  Pauline. 

Now,  at  last,  Red  Pepper  Burns  looked  at  her. 
If  she  had  known  him  better,  she  would  have 
known  that  all  his  vows  to  keep  his  tongue  from 
certain  words  were  at  that  moment  very  nearly 
as  written  in  water.  But  the  look  he  gave  her 
stung  her  for  an  instant  into  silence. 

"I  shall  want  to  hear  about  Bob,"  Ellen  re 
plied,  "all  you  can  tell  me.  I  have  promised 
to  write  to  him.  You  will  have  to  read  the  letters 


130  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

aloud  to  him  —  which  will  give  you  a  very  fair 
idea  of  what  I  am  doing.  But  if  you  care  for  an 
extra  sheet  for  yourself  —  now  and  then  - 

"An  extra  sheet!  When  I  am  in  the  mood  I 
am  likely  to  write  a  dozen  sheets  to  you.  When 
I'm  not,  a  page  will  be  all  you'll  care  to  read. 
Will  you  agree  to  the  most  erratic  correspondence 
you  ever  had,  with  the  most  erratic  fellow?" 

"It  sounds  very  promising,"  she  answered, 
smiling. 

The  train  drew  into  the  city  station.  The  stop 
was  a  short  one,  for  the  Limited  was  late.  In  the 
rush  of  outgoing  and  incoming  passengers  Burns 
managed,  for  the  space  of  sixty  seconds,  to  get  out 
of  range  of  Pauline's  ears. 

"I  shall  count  the  hours  till  I  get  that  first 
letter,"  said  he. 

She  looked  up.  "You  surely  don't  expect  a 
letter  till  you  have  sent  one  ? " 

He  laughed.  "I'm  going  home  to  begin  to 
write  it  now,"  he  said. 

Pauline  accompanied  him  to  the  vestibule 
where  he  shook  hands  with  her  forgivingly. 
From  the  platform  he  secured  a  last  glimpse  of 
the  other  face,  which  gave  him  a  friendly  smile 


UNREASONABLY  PREOCCUPIED      131 

as  he  saluted  with  his  dusty  leather  cap  held  out 
toward  her  at  the  length  of  his  arm.  When  he 
could  no  longer  see  her  he  drew  a  gusty  sigh  and 
turned  away. 

As  he  stood  at  the  street  entrance  of  the  big 
station,  waiting  for  Johnny  Caruthers  and  the 
Green  Imp,  this  is  what  he  was  saying  to  himself: 

"  Red,  you've  made  more  than  one  woman  un 
happy,  to  say  nothing  of  yourself,  by  making  love 
to  her  because  she  was  a  beauty  and  your  head 
swam.  This  time  you've  tried  rather  hard  to 
do  her  the  justice  to  wait  till  you  know.  Only 
time  and  absence  can  settle  that.  Remember 
you  found  a  nest  of  gray  hairs  in  your  red  pate 
this  morning?  That  should  show  that  you're 
gaining  wisdom  at  last,  the  salt  in  the  red  pepper, 
'the  seasoning  of  time,'  eh,  R.  P.?  But  by  the 
rate  of  my  pulse  at  this  present  moment  I'm  in 
clined  to  believe  —  it's  going  to  be  a  bit  hard  to 
write  an  absolutely  sane  letter.  Perhaps  it  would 
be  safer  if  I  knew  Pauline  Pry  would  see  it!  I'll 
try  to  write  as  if  I  knew  she  would.  .  .  .  But 
by  the  spark  I  thought  I  saw  in  those  black  eyes 
I  don't  really  imagine  Pauline  will!" 


CHAPTER  IX 

IN   WHICH    HE    SUFFERS    A   DEFEAT 

THE  hands  of  the  office  clock  were  pointing 
to  half  after  two,  on  a  certain  September 
night,  when  Burns  came  into  his  office,  alone. 
The  fire  in  the  office  fireplace,  kept  bright  until 
nearly  midnight,  when  his  housekeeper  had  given 
up  waiting  for  him  and  gone  to  bed,  had  burned 
to  a  few  smouldering  lumps  of  cannel-slag.  A 
big  leather  easy-chair,  its  arms  worn  with  much 
use,  had  been  pulled  into  an  inviting  position 
before  the  fireplace,  and  the  night-light  by  the 
desk  was  burning,  as  usual.  All  that  could  be 
expected  had  been  done  by  the  kind-hearted 
Cynthia,  who  comprehended,  by  signs  she  knew 
well  and  had  been  watching  for  several  days,  that 
affairs  were  going  wrong  with  her  employer. 

But  he  needed  more  than  could  be  given  him 
by  things  inanimate — needed  it  woefully.  He 
came  in  as  a  man  comes  who  is  not  only  physically 
weary  to  the  point  of  exhaustion,  but  heart-sick 

132 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  133 

and  sore  besides.  He  dropped  his  heavy  surgical 
bags  upon  the  floor  by  the  desk  as  if  he  wanted 
never  to  take  them  up  again,  pulled  off  coat  and 
cap  and  let  them  fall  where  they  would,  then 
stumbled  blindly  over  to  the  big  chair  and  sank 
into  it  with  a  great  sigh,  as  if  he  had  reached  the 
end  of  all  endeavour. 

If  it  had  been  physical  fatigue  alone  which 
had  brought  him  to  this  pass  he  might  have 
dropped  asleep  where  he  sat,  and  waked,  after 
an  hour  or  two,  to  drag  himself  away  to  bed,  like 
one  who  had  been  drugged.  For  a  short  space, 
indeed,  he  lay  motionless  in  the  chair  in  the 
attitude  of  one  so  spent  for  sleep  that  he  must 
needs  find  it  in  the  first  place  his  body  touches. 
But  there  are  times  when  the  mind  will  not  let 
the  body  rest.  And  this  was  one  of  them. 

The  scene  he  had  left  lately  was  burning  before 
his  tired  eyes;  the  sounds  he  had  lately  heard 
were  beating  in  his  brain.  For  a  week  he  had 
been  putting  every  power  he  possessed  into  the 
attaining  of  an  end  for  which  it  had  more  than 
once  seemed  to  him  that  he  would  be  willing  to  sacri 
fice  his  own  life.  He  had  dared  everything,  fought 
one,  had  his  own  way  in  spite  of  every 


i34  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

obstacle,  believing  to  the  last  that  he  could  win, 
as  he  had  so  often  won  before,  by  sheer  contempt  of 
danger.  But  this  time  he  had  failed. 

That  was  all  there  was  of  it — he  had  failed, 
failed  so  absolutely,  so  humiliatingly,  so  publicly — 
this  was  the  way  he  put  it  to  himself — that  he 
was  in  disgrace.  He  had  operated  when  others 
advised  against  operation  —  and  had  seemed  to 
succeed,  brilliantly  and  incredibly.  Then  the 
case  had  begun  to  go  wrong.  He  had  operated 
a  second  time  —  against  all  precedent,  taking 
tremendous  risks  —  and  had  lost. 

But  this  was  not  the  worst.  He  had  lost  cases 
before  and  had  suffered  keenly  over  them,  but 
not  as  he  was  suffering  now.  In  a  world  of  death 
some  cases  must  be  lost,  even  by  the  most  suc 
cessful  of  all  of  his  profession.  But  this  was  an 
unusual  case.  This  was  O  God 

how  could  he  bear  losing  this  one  ? 

He  had  known  her  from  a  little  girl  of  eight 
till  now,  when  at  sixteen,  bright,  beautiful,  win 
some  sixteen,  he  had  .  .  .  what  had  he  done  ? 
She  might  have  had  a  chance  for  life  —  without 
operation.  He  had  taken  that  chance  away. 
And  she  had  trusted  him  —  how  she  had  trusted 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  135 

him!  Ah,  there  was  the  bitter  drop  in  the  cup  - 
the  turn  of  the  knife  in  the  raw  wound.  When 
the  others  had  opposed,  she  had  looked  up  at 
him  with  that  smile  of  hers  —  how  could  she 
smile  when  she  was  in  such  pain  ?  —  and  whis 
pered:  "Please  do  whatever  you  want  to,  Doctor 
Burns."  And  he  had  answered  confidently: 
"  Good  for  you,  Lucile  —  if  only  they'd  all  trust 
me  like  that  I'd  show  them  what  I  could 
do!" 

Vain  boast  —  wild  boast!  He  had  been  a 
fool  —  twice  a  fool  —  thrice  a  fool!  He  was  a 
fool  clear  through  —  that  was  the  matter  with 
him  —  a  proud  fool  who  had  thought  that  with 
a  thrust  of  his  keen-edged  tools  he  could  turn 
Death  himself  aside. 

And  when  he  had  tried  his  hand  a  second 
time,  in  the  last  futile  effort  to  avert  the  impend 
ing  disaster,  she  had  trusted  him  just  the  same. 
When  he  had  said  to  her,  speaking  close  to  her 
dull  ear:  "Dear  little  girl,  I'm  going  to  ask  you  to 
go  to  sleep  again  for  me,"  she  had  turned  her 
head  upon  the  pillow,  that  tortured  young  head  — 
he  would  not  have  thought  she  could  move  it  at 
all  —  and  had  smiled  at  him  again  ...  for 


136  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

the  last  time     .     .     .     He  would  remember  that 
smile  while  he  lived. 

He  got  up  from  his  chair  as  the  intolerable 
memory  smote  him  again,  as  it  had  been  smiting 
him  these  three  hours  since  the  end  had  come. 
He  began  to  pace  the  floor,  back  and  forth  - 
back  and  forth.  There  were  those  who  said  that 
R.  P.  Burns  threw  off  his  cases  easily,  did  not 
wroriy  about  them,  did  not  take  it  to  heart  when 
they  went  wrong.  It  is  a  thing  often  said  of  the 
men  who  must  turn  from  one  patient  to  another, 
and  show  to  the  second  no  hint  of  how  the  first 
may  be  faring.  Those  who  say  it  do  not  know 
—  can  never  know. 

The  hours  wore  on.  Burns  could  not  sleep, 
could  not  even  relax  and  rest.  To  the  first  agony 
of  disappointment  succeeded  a  depression  so  pro 
found  that  it  seemed  to  him  he  could  never  rise 
above  it  and  take  up  his  work  again.  A  hundred 
times  he  went  painfully  over  the  details  of  the 
case,  from  first  to  last.  Why  had  he  done  as  he 
had  ?  Why  had  he  not  listened  to  Grayson,  to 
Van  Horn,  to  Fields  ?  Only  Buller  had  backed 
him  up  in  his  decisions  —  and  he  knew  well 
enough  that  Buller  had  done  it  only  because  of 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  137 

his  faith  in  Burns  himself  and  his  remembrance 
of  some  of  his  extraordinary  successes,  not  be 
cause  his  own  judgment  approved. 

Five  o'clock  —  six  o'clock  —  he  had  thrown 
himself  into  the  chair  again,  and  had,  at  last, 
dropped  into  an  uneasy  sort  of  half  slumber, 
when  the  office  door  quietly  opened  and  Miss 
Mathewson  came  in.  It  was  two  hours  before 
she  was  due.  Burns  roused  and  regarded  her 
wonderingly,  with  eyes  heavy  and  blood-shot. 
She  stood  still  and  looked  down  at  him,  sympathy 
in  her  face.  She  herself  was  pale  with  fatigue 
and  loss  of  sleep,  for  she  had  been  with  him 
throughout  the  week  of  struggle  over  the  case 
he  had  lost,  and  she  knew  the  situation  as  no  one 
else,  even  his  professional  colleagues,  knew  it, 
But  she  smiled  wanly  down  at  him,  like  a  pitying 
angel. 

"You  didn't  go  to  bed,  Doctor,"  she  said, 
very  gently.  "I  was  afraid  you  wouldn't.  Won't 
you  go  now  ?  You  know  there's  a  day's  work 
before  you." 

He  shook  his  head.  "No  —  I'd  rather  get 
out  in  the  air.  I'm  going  now.  I'd  like  to  take 
the  Imp  and  —  drive  to ." 


138  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"  No,  no!"  —  She  spoke  quickly,  coming  closer, 
as  if  she  understood  and  would  not  let  him  use 
the  reckless,  common  phrase  which  sometimes 
means  despair.  I  thought  you  might  be  feeling 
like  that  —  that's  why  I  came  early.  Not  that 
I  can  say  anything  to  cheer  you,  Doctor  Burns— 
I  know  you  care  too  much  for  that.  But  there's 
one  thing  you  must  realize — you  must  say  it 
over  and  over  to  yourself — you  did  your  best. 
No  human  being  can  do  more." 
"A  fool's  best,"  he  muttered.  "Cold  comfort 
that." 

"Not  a  fool's  best  —  a  skilful  surgeon  s  best." 

He  shook  his  head  again,  got  slowly  up  from 
his  chair,  and  stood  staring  down  into  the  ashes 
of  the  long-dead  fire.  The  usually  straight 
shoulders  were  bent;  the  naturally  well-poised 
head,  always  carried  confidently  erect,  was  sunk 
upon  the  broad  chest. 

Amy  Mathewson  watched  him  for  a  minute, 
her  own  face  full  of  pain;  then  laid  her  hand, 
rather  timidly,  upon  his  arm.  He  looked  round 
at  her  and  tried  to  smile,  but  the  effort  only  made 
his  expression  the  more  pitiful. 

"  Bless  your   heart,"    said  he,    brokenly,    "  I 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  139 

l»elieve  you'd  stand  by  me  to  the  last  ditch  of 
a  failure." 

Her  eyes  suddenly  filled.  "  I'd  let  you  operate 
—  on  my  mother  —  to-day,"  said  she,  in  a  low 
voice. 

He  gazed  into  her  working  face  for  a  long 
moment,  seized  her  hand  and  wrung  it  hard, 
then  strode  away  into  the  inner  office  and  flung 
the  door  shut  behind  him. 

A  half-hour  later  he  came  out.  He  had  him 
self  sternly  in  hand  again.  His  shoulders  were 
squared,  his  head  up;  in  his  face  was  written 
a  peculiar  grim  defiance  which  those  who  did 
not  comprehend  might  easily  mistake  for  the 
stoicism  imputed  to  men  of  his  calling  under 
defeat.  Miss  Mathewson  knew  better,  under 
stood  that  it  was  taking  all  his  courage  to  face 
his  work  again,  and  realized  as  nobody  else  could 
that  the  day  before  him  would  be  one  of  the  hard 
est  he  had  yet  had  to  live.  But  she  was  [hopeful 
that  little  by  little  he  would  come  back  to  the  same 
recognition  of  that  which  she  felt  was  really  true, 
that,  in  spite  of  the  results,  he  had  been  justified 
in  the  risk  he  had  taken,  and  that  he  could  not  be 
blamed  that  conditions  which  only  a  superhuman 


140  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

penetration  could  have  foreseen  would  arise  to 
thwart  him. 

"Cynthia  has  your  breakfast  ready  for  you 
Doctor,"  Miss  Mathewson  said  quietly,  as  he 
came  out.  She  did  not  look  up  from  the  desk, 
where  she  was  working  on  accounts.  But  as 
he  passed  her,  on  his  way  to  the  dining-room,  he 
laid  his  hand  for  an  instant  on  her  shoulder,  and 
when  she  looked  up  she  met  his  grateful  eyes. 
She  had  given  him  the  greatest  proof  of  confi 
dence  in  her  power,  and  it  had  been  the  one  ray 
of  light  in  his  black  hour. 

"Won't  you  take  just  a  taste  o5  the  chops, 
Doctor?"  urged  his  housekeeper,  anxiously.  She 
knew  nothing  of  the  situation,  but  she  had  not 
served  him  for  eight  years  not  to  have  learned 
something  of  his  moods,  and  it  was  clear  to  her 
that  he  had  had  little  sleep  for  many  nights. 

But  he  put  aside  the  plate.  "I  know  they're 
fine,  Cynthia,"  said  he  in  his  gentlest  way.  "But 
the  coffee's  all  I  want,  this  morning.  Another 
cup,  please." 

Cynthia  hesitated,  a  motherly  sort  of  solicitude 
in  her  homely  face.  "Doctor,  do  you  know 
you've  had  four,  a'ready  ?  And  it's  awful  strong." 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  141 

"Have  I?  Well  —  perhaps  that's  enough. 
Thank  you,  Cynthia." 

His  housekeeper  looked  after  him,  as  he  left 
the  room.  "He's  terrible  blue,  to  be  so  polite 
as  that,"  she  reflected.  "When  he's  happy  he's 
in  such  a  hurry  he  don't  have  time  to  thank  a 
body.  Of  the  two,  I  guess  I'd  rather  have  him 
hustlin'  rude!" 

In  the  middle  of  the  day  Burns  met  Van  Horn. 

"Sorry  the  case  went  wrong,  Doctor,"  said 
his  colleague.  There  was  a  peculiar  sparkle 
in  his  eye  as  he  offered  this  customary,  perfunc 
tory  condolence. 

"Thank  you,"  replied  Burns,  shortly. 

"I  didn't  wish  to  seem  skeptical,  and  you  cer 
tainly  have  had  remarkable  success  in  somewhat 
similar  cases.  But  it  seemed  to  me  that  in  advis 
ing  as  I  did  I  was  holding  the  only  safe  ground. 
Personally  I'm  not  in  favour  of  taking  chances  — 
and  in  this  case  it  seemed  to  me  they  were  pretty 
slim." 

"They  were." 

"I  did  my  best  to  assure  the  family  that  you 
were  within  your  rights." 

"Much  obliged." 


i42  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"  I  don't  blame  you  for  feeling  broken  up  about 
it,"  declared  the  other  man,  soothingly.  "But 
we  all  have  to  learn  by  experience,  and  conser 
vatism  is  one  of  the  hardest  lessons." 

An  ugly  light  was  growing  in  Red  Pepper's 
eye.  He  got  away  without  further  words.  Only 
last  week  Van  Horn  had  been  helped  out  of  a 
serious  and  baffling  complication  by  Burns  him 
self,  and  no  credit  given  to  the  rescuer.  From 
him  this  sort  of  high  and  mighty  sympathy  was 
particularly  hard  to  bear. 

Around  the  corner  he  encountered  Grayson. 
This,  as  it  was  so  little  to  be  desired,  was  naturally 
to  be  expected. 

"Too  bad,  Doctor,"  Grayson  began,  stopping 
to  shake  hands.  Van  Horn  had  not  even  shaken 
hands.  "I  hoped  till  the  last  that  we  were  all 
wrong  and  you  were  right.  But  that  heart  seemed 
dangerously  shaky  to  me,  though  I  know  vou 
didn't  think  so." 

"I  didn't." 

"There  was  a  queer  factor  in  the  case,  one  I 
felt  from  the  first,  though  I  couldn't  put  my 
finger  on  it.  It  was  the  thing  that  made  me 
advise  against  operation." 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  143 

"I  understand." 

"  But  of  course  there's  no  use  crying  over  spilt 
milk;  you  did  your  best,"  continued  Gray  son 
cheerfully.  "Pretty  little  girl  —  plucky,  too. 
Sorry  to  see  her  go." 

Burns  nodded  —  and  bolted.  These  Job's 
comforters  —  were  they  trying  to  make  the  thing 
seem  even  more  unbearable  than  it  already  was  ? 
Certainly  they  were  succeeding  admirably.  He 
went  on  about  his  work  with  set  teeth,  expecting 
at  the  next  turn  to  run  into  Fields.  He  would 
undoubtedly  find  him  at  the  hospital,  ready  to 
greet  him  with  some  croaking  sympathy.  True 
to  his  expectations  Fields  met  him  at  the  door. 
He  himself  was  looking  particularly  prosperous 
and  cheerful,  as  people  have  a  way  of  appearing 
to  us  when  our  trouble  is  not  theirs. 

"Good  morning,  Doctor."  Fields  shook  hands, 
evidently  trying  to  modify  his  own  demeanour 
of  unusual  good  cheer  over  a  list  of  patients  all 
safely  on  the  road  to  ultimate  recovery.  "I  wrant 
to  express  my  regret  over  the  way  things  came 
out  last  night.  Mighty  pretty  operation  —  if  it 
had  succeeded.  Sorry  it  didn't.  Better  luck 
next  time." 


144  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Much  obliged."  Burns  had  a  bull-dog  ex 
pression  now.  Not  the  most  discerning  observer 
would  have  imagined  he  felt  a  twinge  of  regret 
over  his  failure. 

"Would  you  mind  telling  me  what  made  you 
so  confident  that  the  spleen  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  complication?"  Fields  inquired  in  a 
deprecatory  manner  which  made  Burns  long  to 
twist  his  neck. 

"Did  you  suggest  that  it  did  —  beforehand?" 

"  I  believe  I  did  —  if  I  remember." 

"  I  believe  you  didn't  —  nor  any  other  man  - 
till  I  got  in  and  found  it.  You  all  observed  it 
then  —  and  so  did  I.  Excuse  me  —  I'm  in  too 
much  of  a  hurry  to  stop  to  discuss  the  case  now. 
I'm  due  upstairs."  And  once  more  Burns  made 
good  his  escape. 

"Sore,"  was  Fields's  verdict,  looking  after  the 
man  who  had  been  his  successful  rival  for  so  long 
that  this  exception  could  hardly  fail  to  afford  a 
decided,  if  rather  shame-faced  satisfaction  to  a 
brother  surgeon  not  above  that  quite  human 
sentiment. 

But  in  the  course  of  the  day  Burns  met  Buller. 
He  had  dreaded  to  meet  him  but  not  for  the 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  145 

same  reason  that  he  had  dreaded  the  others. 
Meeting  Duller  was  quite  another  story. 

"  Old  boy,  I'm  so  sorry  I  could  cry,  if  it  would 
do  you  any  good,"  said  Buller,  his  steady,  honest 
gaze  meeting  his  friend's  miserable  eyes.  For 
the  defiance  had  melted  out  of  Burns's  aspect 
and  left  it  frankly  wretched  before  the  hearty 
friendship  in  this  man's  whole  attitude  ;  friend 
ship  which  could  be  counted  upon,  like  that  of 
his  office  nurse's,  to  the  end  of  all  things. 

Burns  swallowed  hard,  making  no  reply,  be 
cause  he  could  not.  But  his  hand  returned  the 
steady  pressure  of  Buller's  in  a  way  that  showed 
he  was  grateful. 

"  I  knew  you'd  take  it  hard  —  much  harder 
than  common.  And,  of  course,  I  understand 
why.  Any  man  would.  But  I  wish  I  could 
make  you  feel  the  way  I  do  about  it.  There's 
not  one  particle  of  reason  for  you  to  blame  yourself. 
I've  thought  the  case  over  and  over  from  start  to 
finish,  and  I'm  more  and  more  convinced  that  — 
she  wouldn't  have  lived  without  the  operation. 
You  gave  her  her  only  chance.  Take  that  in  ?  I 
mean  it.  I  went  around  there  this  morning  and 
told  the  family  so — I  took  that  liberty.  It  was 


146  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

a  comfort  to  them,  though  they  believed  it 
anyway.  They  haven't  lost  a  particle  of  faith  in 
you." 

Burns  bit  his  lip  till  he  had  it  under  control, 
and  could  get  out  a  word  or  two  of  gratitude. 

"  And  now  I  want  a  favour  of  you,"  the  other 
went  on  hurriedly.  "A  case  I  want  you  to  see 
with  me — possible  operation  within  a  day  or  two." 

Burns  hesitated  an  instant,  changing  colour. 
Then:  "Are  you  sure  you'd  better  have  me?" 
he  asked,  a  trifle  huskily. 

The  other  looked  him  in  the  eye.  "  Why  not  ? 
I  know  of  nobody  so  competent.  Come,  man  - 
put  that  Satan  of  unreasonable  self-reproach  be 
hind  you.  When  man  becomes  omniscient  and 
omnipotent  there'll  be  no  errors  in  his  judgment 
or  his  performance  —  and  not  before.  Mean 
while  we're  all  in  the  soup  of  fallibility  together. 
I  —  I'm  not  much  at  expressing  myself  elegantly: 
but  I  trust  I'm  sufficiently  forcible,"  smiled 
Buller.  "Er  —  will  you  meet  me  at  four  at  my 
office  ?  We'll  go  to  the  Arnolds'  together,  and  I'll 
give  you  the  history  of  the  case  on  the  way.  It's  a 
corker,  I  assure  you,  and  it's  keeping  me  awake 
nights." 


HE  SUFFERS  A  DEFEAT  147 

Proceeding  on  his  way  alone  in  the  Imp  — 
he  had  not  wanted  even  Johnny  Caruthers's  com 
pany  to-day  —  Burns  found  the  heaviness  of  his 
spirit  lifting  slightly  —  very  slightly.  Tenderness 
toward  the  little  lost  patient  who  had  loved  and 
trusted  him  so  well  began  gradually  to  usurp  the 
place  of  the  black  hatred  of  what  he  felt  to  be  his 
own  incompetency.  Passing  a  florist's  shop  he 
suddenly  felt  like  giving  that  which,  as  it  had 
occurred  to  him  before,  had  seemed  to  him  would 
be  only  a  mockery  from  his  hands.  He  went  in 
and  selected  flowers  —  dozens  and  dozens  of 
white  rosebuds,  fresh  and  sweet  —  and  sent  them, 
with  no  card  at  all,  to  her  home. 

Then  he  drove  on  to  his  next  patient,  to  find 
himself  surrounded  by  an  eager  group  of  happy 
people,  all  rejoicing  in  what  appeared  to  them 
to  be  a  marvelous  deliverance  from  a  great  im 
pending  danger,  entirely  due  to  his  own  foresight 
and  skill.  He  knew  well  enough  that  it  was 
Nature  herself  who  had  come  to  the  rescue,  and 
frankly  told  them  so.  But  they  continued  to 
thrust  the  honour  upon  him,  and  he  could  but 
come  away  with  a  softened  heart. 

"I'll  go  on  again,"  he  said  to  himself.     "I've 


148  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

got  to  go  on.     Last  night  I  thought  I  couldn't, 
but,  of  course,  that's  nonsense.    The  best  I  can  - 
God  knows  I  try     .     .     .     And  I'll  never  make 
that  mistake  again.     .     .     .    But  oh!— little  Lu- 
cile  — little  Lucile!" 


CHAPTER  X 

IN   WHICH    HE    PROVES    HIMSELF   A    HOST 

WINIFRED,"  said  R.  P.  Burns,  invading 
Mrs.  Arthur  Chester's  sunny  living-room 
one  crisp  October  morning,  leather  cap  in  hand, 
"  I'm  going  to  give  a  dinner  to-night.  Stag  dinner 
for  Grant,  of  Edinburgh  —  man  who  taught  me 
half  the  most  efficient  surgery  I  know.  He's 
over  here,  and  I've  just  found  it  out.  Only 
been  in  the  city  two  days:  goes  to-morrow." 

"How  interesting,  Red!  Where  do  you  give 
it  ?  At  one  of  the  clubs  or  hotels  in  town  ? " 

"That's  the  usual  thing,  of  course.  That's 
why  I'm  not  going  to  do  it.  Grant's  a  rugged  sort 
of  common-sense  chap  —  hates  show  and  fuss. 
He  gets  an  overpowering  lot  of  being  'entertained' 
in  precisely  the  conventional  style.  He's  a  pretty 
big  gun  now,  and  he  can't  escape.  When  I  told 
him  I  was  going  to  have  him  out  for  a  plain  dinner 
at  home  he  looked  as  relieved  as  if  I'd  offered  him 
a  reprieve  for  some  sentence." 

149 


150  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Undoubtedly  he'll  enjoy  the  relaxation.  But 
you'll  have  a  caterer  out  from  town,  I  suppose?" 

"Not  on  your  life.  Cynthia  can  cook  well 
enough  for  me,  and  I  know  Ronald  Grant's  tastes 
like  a  book.  But  what  I  want  to  ask  is  that  you 
and  Martha  Macauley  will  come  over  and  see  that 
the  table  looks  shipshape.  Cynthia's  a  captain  of 
the  kitchen,  but  her  ideas  of  table  decoration  are 
a  trifle  too  original  even  for  me.  Miss  Mathew- 
son's  away  on  her  vacation.  I'll  send  in  some 
flowers.  My  silver  and  china  are  nothing  re 
markable,  but  as  long  as  the  food's  right  that 
doesn't  matter." 

"I  shall  be  delighted  to  do  it  for  you,  Red,  as 
you  know.  So  will  Martha.  We  — 

'Thanks  immensely.  I  want  Ches,  of  course, 
and  Jim  Macauley's  coming.  The  rest  are  M. 
D.'s.  I  must  be  ofr." 

He  would  have  been  off,  without  doubt,  in  an 
instant  more,  for  he  was  half  out  of  the  door  as 
he  spoke,  but  Winifred  Chester  flew  after  him 
and  laid  an  insistent  hand  on  his  coat  sleeve. 

"Red!  You  must  stop  long  enough  to  tell  me 
something  about  it.  How  can  I  help  you  unless  I 
know  your  plans  ?  What  hour  have  you  set  ? 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST       151 

How  many  are  coming,  and  who  ?  How  many 
courses  are  you  going  to  have  ?  Have  you  en 
gaged  a  waitress  ?" 

Red  Pepper  looked  bewildered.  "Is  there  all 
that  to  it?"  he  inquired  helplessly.  "How  in 
thunder  —  I  beg  your  pardon  —  how  do  I  know 
how  many  courses  there'll  be  ?  Ask  Cynthia 
that.  The  hour's  seven-thirty;  can't  get  around 
earlier,  even  if  I  wanted  to  be  less  formal.  There's 
Van  Horn  and  Duller  and  Fields  and  Grayson  and 
Grant  and  Ches  and  Jim  and  —  and  —  myself. 
I  may  have  asked  somebody  else,  seems  as  if  did, 
but  I  can't  remember.  You'd  better  put  on  an 
extra  plate  in  case  I  have." 

He  was  starting  off  again,  but  Winifred,  laugh 
ing  helplessly,  again  detained  him.  "  Red,  you're 
too  absurd!  What  about  the  waitress?  Shall  I 
find  one  for  you?" 

"I  supposed  Cynthia  could  serve  us;  she  always 
does  me." 

"  She  can't  to-night,  and  prepare  things  to  send 
in,  too." 

"Oh,  well,  see  to  it  if  you'll  be  so  kind;  only  let 
me  go,  for  I've  only  fifteen  minutes  now  to  meet 
a  consultant  ten  miles  away.  Good-bye,  Win." 


152  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

He  took  time  to  turn  and  smile  at  her,  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  smile  —  she  knew  of  none  other 
just  like  it  —  she  forgave  him  for  involving  her 
in  the  labours  she  already  clearly  foresaw  were  to 
be  hers.  How  precisely  like  Red  Pepper  Burns 
it  was  to  plan  for  a  "stag"  dinner  in  this  incon 
sequent  way!  If  it  had  been  a  coming  operation, 
now,  no  detail  of  preparation  would  have  been  too 
insignificant  to  command  his  attention.  But  in 
the  present  instance  unquestionably  all  he  had 
done  was  to  appear  at  the  door  of  the  kitchen 
and  casually  inform  Cynthia  that  eight  or  nine 
men  were  coming  to  dinner  to-night,  and  he'd 
trust  her  to  see  that  they  should  have  something 
good  to  eat.  Poor  Cynthia ! 

Winifred  ran  over  to  consult  Martha  Macauley 
and  together  they  braved  Burns's  housekeeper  in 
her  kitchen.  The  result  was  relief,  as  far  as  the 
dinner  itself  was  concerned.  Cynthia  was  a 
superior  cook,  and  long  experience  with  exclu 
sively  masculine  tastes  had  taught  her  the  sort 
of  thing  which,  however  out  of  the  beaten  line 
for  entertaining,  was  likely  to  prove  successful  in 
pleasing  "eight  or  nine  men,"  wherever  they 
might  hail  from. 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST       153 

"Cynthia's  planned  a  dinner  that  will  be  about 
as  different  from  Lazier's  concoctions  as  could  be 
imagined,"  Winifred  said  to  Martha,  "  but  it  will 
taste  what  Ches  calls  *  licking  good.'  Now  for  the 
table.  I'm  afraid  Red's  china  and  linen  are  none 
too  fine.  We'll  have  to  help  him  out  there." 

They  helped  him  out.  Only  the  finest  of 
Martha's  linen  and  silver,  the  thinnest  of  Wini 
fred's  plates  and  cups  and  the  most  precious  of 
her  glass  would  content  them.  When  the  table 
was  set  in  the  low-ceiled,  casement-windowed 
old  dining-room  where  Red  Pepper  was  accus 
tomed  to  bolt  his  meals  alone  when  he  took  time 
for  them  at  all,  it  was  a  table  to  suggest  arrogantly 
the  hand  of  woman.  Winifred  eyed  it  with 
mingled  satisfaction  and  concern. 

"  It  looks  lovely,  Martha,  but  not  a  bit  bachelor- 
like.  Do  you  suppose  he'll  mind  ?" 

"Not  as  long  as  the  food  is  right;  and  judging 
by  the  heavenly  smells  from  the  kitchen  there's 
no  fear  for  that.  But  it's  five  o'clock,  and  the 
flowers  he  promised  you  haven't  come.  Do  you 
suppose  he's  forgotten?" 

"  Of  course  he  has.  If  he  remembers  the  dinner 
itself  it'll  be  all  we  can  expect  of  him.  It  doesn't 


154  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

matter.  There  are  heaps  of  pink  and  crimson 
asters  yet  in  the  garden,  and  some  fall  anemones. 
We'll  arrange  them,  and  then  if  his  flowers  do 
come  we'll  change.  But  they  won't." 

They  didn't.  But  the  pink  and  crimson  asters 
furnished  a  centrepiece  decidedly  more  in  keep 
ing,  somehow,  with  a  men's  dinner  than  roses 
would  have  been,  and  the  decorators  were  content 
with  them.  Dora,  Mrs.  Macauley's  own  serving- 
maid,  who  was  to  take  the  part  of  the  waitress 
Red  Pepper  had  not  thought  necessary,  said  they 
looked  "  awful  tasty  now." 

"It's  after  seven  and  Red  hasn't  come  yet." 
Winifred  Chester  rushed  at  Arthur,  dressing  pla^ 
cidly.  "  Jim  went  in  for  the  men  with  his  car, 
and  said  he'd  surely  have  them  here  by  seven- 
twenty.  You'll  have  to  go  over  and  do  the 
honours  for  him  till  he  comes.  He'll  have  to  dress 
after  he  gets  here." 

"  He  won't  stop  to  dress  —  not  if  he's  late," 
predicted  Chester,  obediently  hastening.  "He'll 
rush  in  at  the  last  minute,  smelling  horribly  of 
antiseptics,  and  set  everybody  laughing  with  some 
story.  They  won't  care  what  he  wears.  It's 
always  a  case  of  'where  MacGregor  sits,  there's 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        155 

the  head  of  the  table,'  you  know,  with  Red.  I 
certainly  hope  nothing  will  make  him  late.  I'm 
not  up  to  playing  host  to  a  lot  of  physicians  and 
surgeons.  I  should  feel  as  if  I  were  about  to  be 
operated  on." 

"Nonsense,  dear,  there's  no  jollier  company 
when  they're  off  duty.  But  Red  isn't  here  yet, 
and  I'm  sure  I  hear  Jim's  Gabriel  down  the  road. 
Do  hurry!" 

Chester  ran  across  the  back  lawn  and  in  through 
Burns's  kitchen,  startling  Cynthia  so  that  she 
nearly  dropped  the  salt-box  into  a  sauce  she  was 
making  for  the  beefsteak.  He  reached  the  little 
front  porch  just  in  time  to  welcome  the  batch  of 
professional  gentlemen  who  came  talking  and 
laughing  up  the  path  together. 

"Doctor  Burns  has  been  detained,  but  Pm 
sure  he'll  be  here  soon,"  Chester  explained,  shak 
ing  hands,  and  discovering  for  himself  which  was 
the  famous  Scottish  surgeon  by  the  "rugged 
common-sense"  look  of  the  man,  quite  as  R.  P. 
Burns  had  characterized  him. 

Seven- thirty  —  no  Red  Pepper.  Seven-forty- 
rive  —  eight  o'clock  —  still  no  sign  of  him;  harder 
to  be  explained,  no  sign  from  him.  Why  didn't 


156  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

he  telephone  or  send  a  telegram  or  a  messenger  ? 
Waiting  longer  would  not  do;  Cynthia,  in  the 
kitchen,  was  becoming  unnervingly  agitated. 

The  dinner  was  served.  Chester,  at  one  end 
of  the  table,  Macauley  at  the  other,  both  feeling 
a  terrible  responsibility  upon  them,  did  their  best. 
There  had  turned  out  to  be  two  extra  guests 
instead  of  the  one  whom  Burns  had  thought  he 
might  have  asked  but  couldn't  be  sure;  and  Wini 
fred  had  had  a  bad  ten  minutes  looking  out  a  full 
set  of  everything  with  which  to  set  his  place.  For 
Red  Pepper's  place  must  certainly  be  left  unfilled; 
it  would  be  beyond  the  possibilities  that  the  dinner 
should  end  without  him. 

"I  believe  he  has  forgotten,"  whispered  Martha 
to  Winifred  in  the  office,  from  whose  dim  shadows 
they  were  surreptitiously  peering  into  the  dining- 
room  to  make  sure  that  everything  was  going 
properly. 

"Oh,  he  couldn't,  not  with  the  Edinburgh  man 
here.  He's  often  told  us  about  Doctor  Grant 
and  how  much  he  owes  him.  He  does  look 
splendid  and  capable,  doesn't  he  —  for  all  he's 
so  burly  and  homely  ?  And  the  other  men  all 
feel  honoured  to  be  here  with  him;  even  Doctor 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        157 

Van  Horn,  who's  always  so  impressed  with 
himself." 

'They  seem  to  be  having  a  good  time.  And 
they're  eating  as  if  they  never  saw  food  before. 
It's  a  success  —  as  much  as  it  can  be  without  the 
host  himself.  Oh,  why  doesn't  Red  come?" 

"He  wouldn't  desert  a  patient  in  a  crisis  for  a 
dozen  dinners." 

"No,  but  he'd  send  word." 

"Look  at  Arthur.  He's  hobnobbing  with 
Doctor  Grant  as  if  he'd  always  known  him." 

"Jim  is  having  a  bad  time  with  Doctor  Van 
Horn.  I  can  see  it  in  his  eye.  Mercy!  one  of 
them  looked  this  way.  I'm  afraid  he  saw  me. 
Come!" 

The  next  time  they  reconnoitred,  the  dinner  was 
working  toward  its  end.  It  was  time,  for  it 
was  nearly  ten  o'clock,  and  Cynthia's  courses, 
though  not  many,  had  been  mighty.  Presently 
the  table  had  been  cleared,  and  the  men  were 
drinking  coffee  and  lighting  the  excellent  cigars 
which  had  been  Macauley's  thought  when  he 
found  that  Red  Pepper  was  not  on  hand  to  provide 
them  himself. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  genial  stimulants 


158  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

-  Burns  never  offered  any  others,  and  one  man 
who  knew  it  had  declined  to  come  —  the  socia 
bility  grew  more  positive.  Chester  relaxed  his 
legs  under  the  table,  feeling  that  at  last  Red's 
guests  could  take  care  of  themselves.  Grayson 
proved  an  accomplished  story-teller;  Duller  had 
lately  had  some  remarkable  adventures;  even 
Ronald  Grant,  who  had  seemed  a  trifle  taciturn, 
related  an  extraordinary  experience  of  another 
man.  The  Scottish  surgeon  had  the  reputation 
of  never  talking  about  himself. 

The  smoke  grew  thick.  Macauley's  cigars 
were  of  a  strong  brand;  the  air  was  blue  with  their 
reek.  Still  the  guests  sat  about  the  table,  and  still 
the  talk  went  on. 

It  was  interrupted  quite  suddenly  by  the  advent 
of  Red  Pepper  Burns  himself.  Macauley  saw 
him  first,  standing  in  the  doorway  between  dining- 
room  and  office,  but  for  an  instant  he  did  not  know 
him.  Macauley's  startled  look  caught  Chester's 
attention;  he  sprang  to  his  feet.  At  the  same 
moment  the  Scottish  surgeon,  following  Chester's 
eyes,  observed  the  figure  in  the  door.  He  was 
first  to  reach  it. 

"What's  happened  ye,  lad?"   he  asked,   and 


0    <£ 

c  < 

e 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        159 

acted  without  waiting  for  an  answer.  He  threw 
a  powerful  arm  about  Burns's  shoulders  and  led 
him,  reeling,  back  into  the  office  where  the  air 
was  purer. 

They  crowded  round,  doctors  though  they  were 
and  had  many  times  sharply  ordered  other  people 
not  to  crowd.  They  could  see  at  a  glance  that 
Burns  was  very  faint,  that  his  right  arm  hung 
helpless  at  his  side,  that  his  forehead  wore  a  black 
ening  bruise,  and  that  his  clothes  were  torn  and 
covered  with  dirt.  For  the  rest  they  had  to  wait. 

Grant  took  charge  of  his  friend  —  the  pupil 
whom  he  had  never  forgotten.  The  arm  was 
badly  broken,  too  badly  to  be  set  without  an 
anaesthetic.  In  the  inner  office  Van  Horn,  his  dress 
coat  off,  gave  the  chloroform  while  the  Scotch 
man  set  the  arm;  and  the  American  surgeons, 
no  longer  crowding,  but  standing  off  respectfully 
as  if  at  a  clinic,  looked  on  critically.  It  was  rapid 
and  deft  work,  they  admitted,  especially  since 
the  surgeon  was  using  another  man's  splints,  and 
the  patient  proved  to  be  one  of  the  subjects  who 
fight  the  anaesthetic  from  beginning  to  end. 

Chester,  white-faced  but  plucky,  stuck  it  out, 
but  Macauley  fled  to  the  outer  air.  Seeing  a 


160  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

familiar  long,  dark  form  half  on,  half  off  the  drive 
way,  he  hurried  toward  it.  A  minute  later  he  had 
all  the  unoccupied  guests  arround  him  on  the 
lawn,  and  one  of  the  Green  Imp's  lamps  was 
turned  upon  its  crippled  shape. 

"  By  George,  he's  had  a  bad  accident,"  one 
and  another  of  them  said  as  they  examined  the 
car's  injuries.  The  hood  was  jammed  until  they 
wondered  why  the  engine  was  not  disabled;  the 
left  running-board  was  nearly  torn  off  and  the 
fender  a  shapeless  wreck.  The  green  paint 
was  scraped  and  splintered  along  the  left  side. 

"He  must  have  come  home  by  himself.  How 
far,  do  you  suppose  ?" 

"Not  far,  driving  with  his  left  hand,  and  faint." 

"  He  probably  wasn't  faint  till  he  struck  the  in 
door  heat  and  the  tobacco  smoke." 

"He's  come  at  least  five  miles.  Look  at  that 
red  clay  on  her  sides.  There's  no  red  clay  like 
that  around  here  except  in  one  place  —  at  the  old 
mill  on  the  Red  Bank  road."  Chester  demon 
strated  his  theory  excitedly.  "I  ought  to  know, 
I've  ridden  with  him  on  every  out-of-the-way 
by-path  in  the  county,  first  and  last.  There's 
a  fright  of  a  hill  just  there." 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        161 

"Five  miles  with  that  arm?  Gee!"  This 
was  Buller. 

"Plucky,"  was  Grayson's  comment,  and  there 
was  a  general  agreement  among  the  men  standing 
round. 

Macauley  put  his  shoulder  to  the  Imp.  "Let's 
push  her  in,  fellows,"  he  proposed.  He  had  for 
gotten  that  they  were  medical  gentlemen  of  posi 
tion.  "I  don't  seem  to  want  to  drive  her  just 
now,"  he  explained. 

They  pushed  the  Imp  to  the  red  barn  and  shut 
it  in  with  its  injuries.  Then  they  went  back  to 
the  house,  where  presently  Burns  came  out  from 
under  his  anaesthetic  and  lay  looking  at  his  guests 
from  under  the  bandage  which  swathed  his  head. 

"I'm  mighty  sorry  to  have  broken  up  the  fun 
this  way,  gentlemen,"  he  said  with  a  pale  sort  of 
smile.  "Grayson  was  telling  a  story  when  I 
butted  in,  I  think.  Finish  it,  will  you,  Grayson  ?" 

"Not  much.  Yours  is  the  story  we  want  now, 
if  you're  up  to  telling  it.  What  happened  out 
there  on  the  Red  Bank  road  ?" 

Burns  scanned  him.  "How  do  you  know  what 
road?" 

"Your  friend  Mr.  Chester's  detective  instincts. 


162  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

He  says  there's  no  other  red  clay  like  that  that 
plasters  your  car.  By  the  way,  that's  a  fast 
machine  of  yours.  Did  you  lose  control  on  the 
hill?" 

"That's  it,"  acknowledged  Burns  simply.  "I 
lost  control." 

Chester  was  staring  at  him.  It  was  not  in  the 
nature  of  reason  to  suppose  that  Red  Pepper  had 
lost  control  of  that  car  unless  something  else  had 
happened  first.  The  steering  gear  of  the  Imp  was 
certainly  in  perfect  condition;  Macauley  had  said 
so.  He  wondered  if  Red  meant  that  he  had  lost 
his  temper.  But  what  could  make  him  lose  his 
temper  —  on  Red  Bank  hill  ? 

They  questioned  him  closely,  all  of  them  in 
turn.  But  that  was  all  he  would  say.  He  had 
lost  control  of  the  car.  One  or  two  of  the  men 
who  knew  Burns  least  looked  as  if  they  could  tell 
what  was  the  probable  cause  of  such  loss  of  control. 
Chester  wanted  to  knock  them  down  as  he 
fancied  he  recognized  this  attitude  of  mind.  And 
at  last  they  went  away  —  which  was  certainly  the 
best  thing  they  could  do  in  the  circumstances. 

All  but  Ronald  Grant.  The  Scottish  surgeon 
accepted  without  hesitation  Burns's  suggestion 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        163 

that  Doctor  Grant  should  stay  and  keep  him 
company  for  an  hour  or  two  while  he  got  used  to 
his  arm,  and  should  then  sleep  under  his  roof. 
So  they  settled  down,  Burns  on  his  couch,  Grant 
in  an  armchair.  When  Chester  left  he  was  think 
ing  that,  except  for  the  outward  signs  of  his  ad 
venture,  Burns  did  not  look  as  unfit  as  might 
have  been  expected  for  a  happy  hour  with  an  old 
friend. 

Just  outside  the  house  Chester  himself  had  an 
adventure.  He  was  quite  alone,  and  he  almost 
ran  into  a  slim  figure  on  the  walk.  The  lights 
from  the  office  shone  out  into  the  October  night, 
and  Chester  could  see  at  a  glance  who  the  girl 
was,  even  if  the  gleam  of  golden  hair  which  all 
the  town  knew  had  not  told  him.  She  was  pant 
ing  and  her  hand  was  on  her  side. 

"Did  Doctor  Burns  get  home  all  right?"  she 
cried  under  her  breath. 

"What  do  you  know  about  Doctor  Burns?" 
was  Chester's  quick  reply.  He  was  startled  by 
the  girl's  appearance  here  at  this  hour. 

"It  doesn't  make  any  difference  what  I  know. 
Tell  me  if  he  got  home.  Was  he  much  hurt? 
Why  shouldn't  you  tell  me  that,  Mr.  Chester  ?" 


164  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"  He  is  home  and  all  right.  Do  you  want  him 
professionally  ?  He  can't  go  out  to-night." 

"I  know  he  can't.  But  I  had  to  know  he  got 
home.  I-  -" 

She  sank  down  on  the  doorstep,  shaken  and 
sobbing.  Chester  stood  looking  down  at  her, 
wondering  what  on  earth  he  was  to  say.  What 
had  Rose  Seeley  to  do  with  Red  ?  What  had 
she  to  do  with  his  losing  control  on  the  Red 
Bank  hill  ?  A  quick  thought  crossed  his  mind, 
to  be  as  quickly  dismissed.  No,  whatever  Red's 
private  affairs  were,  they  could  have  nothing  to 
do  with  this  Rose  —  too  bruised  and  trampled 
a  rose  to  take  the  fancy  of  a  man  like  him  even 
in  his  most  evil  hour. 

Suddenly  she  lifted  her  head.  "He  saved  my 
life  and  'most  lost  his.  They'd  been  making 
repairs  on  the  hill  and,  some  way,  the  lanterns 
wasn't  lit.  It's  an  awful  dark  night.  He  saw 
what  he  was  comin*  to  and  turned  out  sudden 
into  the  grass.  He  had  to  go  into  the  ditch,  then, 
not  to  run  over  me  —  and  somebody  else.  He 
ran  away!"  Plainly  that  scornful  accent  did  not 
mean  Burns.  "I  didn't.  I  helped  him  get  the 
<;ar  up.  I  got  his  engine  goin'  for  him;  he  showed 


HE  PROVES  HIMSELF  A  HOST        165 

me  how.  His  arm  was  broke.  There  ain't  no 
house  for  a  mile  out  there.  I  hated  to  see  him  try 
to  come  home  alone.  I've  walked  all  the  way  — 
run  some  of  it  —  to  make  sure  he  got  here." 

"He  got  here,"  murmured  Chester,  thinking 
to  himself  that  this  was  the  queerest  story  he'd 
ever  heard,  but  confident  he  would  never  have  any 
better  version  of  it  and  pretty  sure  that  it  was  the 
true  one. 

"I  suppose  I'm  a  crazy  fool  to  tell  you,  Mr. 
Chester,"  said  the  girl  thickly.  "But  you're  a 
gentleman.  You  won't  tell.  No  more  will  he. 
He  didn't  tell  you  how  it  happened,  did  he  ?" 

She  did  not  ask  the  question.  She  made  the 
assertion,  looking  to  him  for  confirmation.  Ches 
ter  gave  it.  "No,  he  didn't  tell,"  he  said  gravely. 

When  she  had  gone  he  crossed  the  lawn  to  his 
own  home,  musing.  "For  a  'plain,  quiet  din 
ner,'3'  said  he,  quoting  a  phrase  of  Burns's 
used  when  he  gave  Chester  the  invitation,  "I 
think  Red's  has  been  about  as  spectacular  as  they 
make  'em.  Bully  old  boy!" 


IN  WHICH   HE   GETS   EVEN  WITH   HIMSELF 

RP.  BURNS  sat  at  his  desk  in  the  inner  office,. 
•  laboriously  inscribing  a  letter  with  his 
left  hand.  It  did  not  get  on  well.  The  hand 
writing  in  the  four  lines  he  had  succeeded  in  fixing 
upon  paper  bore  not  the  slightest  resemblance  to 
his  usual  style;  instead,  it  looked  like  the  chirog- 
raphy  of  a  five-year-old  attempting  for  the  first 
time  to  copy  from  some  older  person's  script. 

He  held  up  the  sheet  and  gazed  at  it  in  disgust. 
Then  he  glanced  resentfully  at  his  sling-supported 
right  arm,  especially  at  the  fingers  which  pro 
truded  from  the  bandages  in  unaccustomed  limp 
whiteness.  Then  he  shook  his  left  fist  at  it. 
"You'll  do  some  work  the  minute  you  come  out 
of  those  splints,"  he  said.  "You'll  work  your 
passage  back  to  fitness  quicker  than  an  arm  ever 
did  before,  you  pale-faced  shirk!" 

Then  he  applied  himself  to  his   task,   painfully 

forming    a    series    of   pothooks    until    one    more 

1 06 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      167 

sentence  was  completed.  He  read  it  over,  then 
suddenly  crumpled  the  sheet  into  a  ball  and 
dropped  it  into  the  waste-basket. 

"Lie  there!"  he  whimsically  commanded  it. 
"  You're  not  fit  to  go  to  a  lady." 

He  got  up  and  marched  into  the  outer  office, 
where  his  office  nurse  sat  at  a  typewriter,  making 
out  bills. 

"Miss  Mathewson,"  he  requested  gruffly, 
"please  take  a  dictation.  No,  not  on  the  bill 
letterheads  —  on  the  regular  office  sheets.  I'll 
speak  slowly.  In  fact,  I'll  probably  speak  very 
slowly." 

"I'm  sorry  I  don't  know  shorthand,"  said 
Miss  Mathewson,  preparing  her  paper. 

"I'm  not.  Instead,  I'd  rather  you'd  be  as  slow 
as  you  can,  to  give  me  time  to  think.  I'm  not 
used  to  transmitting-mediums  —  the  battery  may 
be  weak  —  in  fact,  I'm  pretty  sure  it  is.  All 
ready  ?  My  dear  Mrs.  Lessing" : 

His  cheek  reddened  suddenly  as  he  saw  the 
nurse's  waiting  hands  poised  over  the  keys  when 
she  had  written  this  address.  He  cleared  his 
throat  and  plunged  in: 

"This  has  been  a  typical  November  day,  dull 


168  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

and  cold.  We  bad  fine  October  weather  clear 
into  the  second  week  of  this  month,  but  all  at  once 
it  turned  cold  and  .dull.  The  leaves  are  all  off  the 
trees  -  Hold  on  —  don't  say  that.  She 
knows  the  leaves  are  all  off  the  trees  the  middle  of 
November." 

"I  have  it  partly  written." 

"Oh!  Well,  go  on,  then;  I'll  fix  it:  a  fact  it 
may  be  necessary  to  remind  you  of  down  there  in 
South  Carolina,  where  -  Miss  Mathewson,  do 
you  suppose  the  leaves  are  on  in  South  Carolina  ?" 

"I  really  don't  know,  Doctor  Burns.  I  have 
always  lived  in  the  North." 

"So  have  I  —  bother  it!     Well,  leave  that  out." 

"But  I've  written  ' a  fact  it  may  be  necessary' 


"Well,  finish  it:  a  fact  it  may  be  necessary  to 
remind  you  of,  you  have  been  gone  so  long.  Oh, 
hang  it  —  that  sounds  flat!  How  can  I  tell  how 
a  sentence  is  coming  out,  this  way  ?  Let  that 
paragraph  stand  by  itself  —  we'll  hasten  on  to 
something  that  will  take  the  reader's  mind  off 
our  unfortunate  beginning: 

"  Ton  will  be  glad  to  know  that  Bobby  Burns  is 
well,  and  not  only  well,  but  fat  and  hearty.  He 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      169 

had  a  wrestling  bout  with  Harold  Macauley  the 
other  day  and  downed  him.  He  got  a  Hack  eye, 
but  that  didn't  county  though  you  may  not  like  to 
hear  of  it.  He  is  heavier  than  when  you  saw  him 
Oh,  I've  said  that!  Miss  Mathewson, 
when  you  see  I'm  repeating  myself,  hold  me  up." 

"  I  can't  always  tell  when  you're  going  to  repeat 
yourself,"  Miss  Mathewson  objected. 

"That's  enough  about  Bob,  anyhow.  Mrs. 
Macauley  writes  her  all  about  him  every  week, 
only  she  probably  didn't  mention  the  black  eye. 
Well,  let's  start  a  new  paragraph.  When  in 
doubt,  always  start  a  new  paragraph.  It  may 
turn  out  a  gold  mine. 

"7  found  my  work  much  crippled  by  the  loss 
of  my  arm.  Good  Heavens,  that  sounds  as  if 
I'd  had  it  amputated!  And  I  suppose  she  natu 
rally  would  infer  that  a  man  can't  do  as  much  with 
his  arm  in  a  sling  as  he  can  when  it's  in  commis 
sion.  Well,  let  it  stand.  7  didn't  realize  how 
much  surgery  I  was  doing  till  I  had  to  cut  it  all  out. 
'Cut  it  out,'  that  certainly  has  a  surgical  ring! 
It  sounds  rather  bragging,  too,  I'm  afraid.  Never 
mind.  The  worst  of  it  is  to  feel  the  muscles 
atrophying  from  disuse  and  the  tissues  wasting,  s* 


170  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

that  when  it  comes  out  of  the  splints  it  will  still 
have  to  be  cured  of  the  degeneration  the  splints 
have  -  Oh,  hold  on,  Miss  Mathewson  — 

this  sounds  like  a  paper  for  a  surgical  journal!" 

Burns,  who  had  been  walking  up  and  down 
the  room,  cast  himself  into  an  armchair  and 
stared  despairingly  at  his  amanuensis.  But  she 
reassured  him  by  saying  quietly  that  it  was  always 
difficult  to  dictate  when  one  was  not  used  to  it, 
and  that  the  letter  sounded  quite  right. 

"Well,  if  you  think  so,  we'll  try  another  para 
graph  —  that's  certainly  enough  about  me.  Let 
me  see  -  He  ran  his  left  hand  through  his 

hair. 

Footsteps  sounded  upon  the  porch.  Arthur 
Chester  opened  the  door. 

"Oh,  excuse  me,  Red.  It's  nothing.  I  was 
going  for  a  tramp,  and  I  thought  - 

"I'm  with  you."  Burns  sprang  to  his  feet, 
looking  immensely  relieved.  "Thank  you,  Miss 
Mathewson,  we'll  finish  another  time.  Or  per 
haps  I  can  scrawl  a  finish  with  my  left  hand. 
I'll  take  the  letter.  I'll  look  in  at  Bob  and  get 
my  hat  in  a  jifFy,  Ches." 

He  seized  the  letter,  ran  into  the  inner  office, 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      171 

looked  in  at  the  dimly-lighted  room  where  the  boy 
was  sleeping,  took  up  a  soft  hat  and,  out  of  sight 
of  Miss  Mathewson,  crammed  the  typewritten 
sheet  into  his  pocket  in  a  crumpled  condition. 
Pulling  the  soft  hat  well  down  over  his  eyes  he 
followed  Chester  out  into  the  fresh  November 
night,  drawing  a  long  breath  of  satisfaction  as  the 
chill  wind  struck  him. 

k"You  were  just  in  time  to  save  me  from  an 
awful  scrape  Yd  got  myself  into,"  he  remarked  as 
they  tramped  away. 

"  I  thought  you  looked  hot  and  unhappy.  Were 
you  proposing  to  Miss  Mathewson  by  letter  ? 
It's  always  best  to  say  those  things  right  out: 
letters  are  liable  to  misinterpretation,"  jeered 
Chester. 

"You're  right  there.  I  was  riding  for  a  fall 
fast  enough  when  you  reined  up  alongside.  But 
what's  a  fellow  to  do  when  he  can't  write  himself, 
except  in  fly-tracks  ?" 

"I  presume  the  lady  would  prefer  the  fly-tracks 
to  a  typewritten  document  executed  by  another 
woman." 

"How  do  you  know  the  thing  was  to  a  lady  ?" 
Burns  demanded. 


172  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

''That's  easy.  No  man  looks  as  upset  as  you 
did  over  a  communication  to  another  man.  What 
do  you  write  to  her  for,  anyhow,  when  she's  as  near 
as  Washington?" 

"What?" 

"Doesn't  she  keep  you  informed?  Winifred 
says  Martha  says  Ellen  came  back  up  to  Washing 
ton  yesterday  for  the  wedding  of  a  friend  —  hastily 
arranged  —  to  an  army  officer  suddenly  ordered 
somewhere  —  old  friend  of  Ellen's  —  former 
bridesmaid  of  hers,  I  believe.  She  - 

Burns  had  stopped  short  in  the  middle  of  the 
hubbly,  half-frozen  street  they  were  crossing. 
"  How  long  does  she  stay  in  Washington  ?" 

"I  don't  know.  Ask  Win.  Probably  not  long, 
since  she  only  came  for  this  wedding.  It's  to 
night,  I  think  she  said.  Aren't  you  coming?" 

Burns  walked  on  at  a  rapid  stride  with  which 
Chester,  shorter-legged  and  narrower-chested, 
found  it  difficult  to  keep  up.  They  had  their 
tramp,  a  four-mile  course  which  they  were  accus 
tomed  to  cover  frequently  together  at  varying 
paces.  Chester  thought  they  had  never  covered 
it  quite  so  quickly  nor  so  silently  before.  For 
Burns,  from  the  moment  of  receiving  Chester's 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      173 

news,  appeared  to  fall  into  a  reverie  from  which 
it  was  impossible  to  draw  him,  and  the  subject  of 
which  his  companion  found  it  not  difficult  to  guess. 
After  the  first  half-mile,  Chester,  than  whom  few 
men  were  more  adaptable  to  a  friend's  mood, 
accepted  the  situation  and  paced  along  as  silently 
as  Burns,  until  the  round  was  made  and  the  two 
were  at  Burns's  door. 

"Good  night.  Afraid  I've  been  dumb  as  an 
oyster,"  was  Burns's  curt  farewell,  and  Chester 
chuckled  as  he  walked  away. 

"  Something'll  come  of  the  dumbness,"  he  pro 
phesied  to  himself. 

Something  did.  It  was  a  telegram,  telephoned 
to  the  office  by  a  sender  who  rejoiced  that  having 
one's  left  arm  in  a  sling  did  not  obstruct  one's  capa 
city  to  send  pregnant  messages  by  wire.  He  had 
obtained  the  address  from  Martha  Macauley, 
also  over  the  telephone: 

"Mrs.  E.  F.  Lessing,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Am  leaving  Washington  to-night.  Hope  to  have  drive  with 
you  to-morrow  morning  in  place  of  letters  impossible  to  write. 

R.  P.  BURNS." 

"I  suppose  that's  a  fool  telegram,"  he  admitted 
to  himself  as  he  hung  up  the  receiver,  "but  after 


i74  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

that  typing  mess  I  had  to  express  myself  somehow 
except  by  signs.  Now  to  get  off.  Luckily,  this 
suit'll  do.  No  time  to  change,  anyhow." 

He  telephoned  for  a  sleeper  berth;  he  called  up 
a  village  physician  and  the  house  surgeon  at  the 
city  hospital,  and  made  arrangements  with  each 
for  seeing  his  patients  during  the  two  nights  and 
a  day  of  his  absence.  He  had  no  serious  case 
on  hand  and,  of  course,  no  surgical  work,  so  that 
it  was  easier  to  get  away  than  it  might  be  again 
for  a  year  after  his  arm  should  be  once  more  to  be 
counted  on.  Then  he  interviewed  Cynthia  on 
the  subject  of  Bob;  after  which  he  packed  a  small 
bag,  speculating  with  some  amusement,  as  he  did 
so,  on  the  succession  of  porters,  bell-boys,  waiters 
and  hotel  valets  he  should  have  to  fee  during  the 
next  thirty-six  hours  to  secure  their  necessary 
assistance,  from  the  fastening  of  his  shoes  to  the 
tying  of  his  scarfs,  the  cutting  up  of  his  food, 
and  the  rest  of  the  hundred  little  services  which 
must  be  rendered  the  man  with  his  right  arm  in  a 
sling. 

"I  may  not  look  a  subject  for  travel,  Miss 
Mathewson,"  he  announced  with  a  brilliant 
smile,  appearing  once  more  in  the  outer  office, 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      175 

where  the  bill-copying  was  just  coming  to  a  finish, 
"  but  I'm  off,  nevertheless.  Thank  you  for  your 
struggle  with  my  schoolboy  composition.  We 
won't  need  to  finish  it.  I'm-  Oh,  thunder!" 

It  was  the  office  bell.  Miss  Mathewson  an 
swered  it.  Burns,  prepared  to  deny  himself  to 
all  ordinary  petitioners,  saw  the  man's  face  and 
stopped  to  listen.  It  was  a  rough-looking  fellow 
who  told  him  his  brief  story,  but  the  hearer  listened 
with  attention  and  his  face  became  grave.  He 
turned  to  Miss  Mathewson. 

"Call  Johnny  Caruthers  and  the  Imp,  please," 
he  directed.  "Telephone  the  Pullman  ticket 
office  and  change  my  berth  reservation  from  the 
ten-thirty  to  the  one  o'clock  train." 

He  went  out  with  the  man,  and  Miss  Mathew 
son  heard  him  say:  "You  walked  in,  Joe? 
You  can  ride  back  with  us  on  the  running-board." 

Ten  minutes  after  he  had  gone  Chester  came 
again.  He  found  Miss  Mathewson  reading  by 
the  office  droplight.  On  the  desk  stood  a  travel 
ling  bag;  beside  it  lay  a  light  overcoat,  not  the  sort 
that  Red  Pepper  was  accustomed  to  wear  in  the 
car,  a  dress  overcoat  with  a  silk  lining.  On  it 
reposed  a  hat  and  a  pair  ot  gloves  rolled  into  a 


176  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

ball,  man  fashion.  Chester  regarded  with  interest 
these  unmistakable  signs  of  intended  travel. 

"Doctor  Burns  going  out  of  town  ?"  he  inquired 
casually.  It  must  be  admitted  that  he  had  scented 
action  of  some  sort  on  the  wind  which  had  taken 
his  friend  from  his  company  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  walk.  Ordinarily,  Burns  would  have  gone 
into  Chester's  den  and  settled  down  for  an  hour  of 
talk  before  bedtime. 

"I  believe  so,"  Miss  Mathewson  replied  in  the 
noncommittal  manner  of  the  professional  man's 
confidential  assistant.  "  But  he  has  gone  out  for 
a  call  now." 

"Back  soon?" 

"I  don't  know,  Mr.  Chester." 

"Did  he  go  in  the  Imp?" 

"Yes." 

"  Country  call,  probably  —  they're  the  ones 
that  bother  a  man  at  night  as  long  as  he  does 
country  work.  I've  often  told  Doctor  Burns 
it  was  time  he  gave  up  this  no-'count  rural  practice. 
Well,  do  you  know  what  time  his  train  goes  ?" 

"After  midnight,  some  time."  Miss  Mathew 
son  knew  that  Mr.  Chester  was  Doctor  Burns'^ 
close  friend,  but  she  was  too  accustomed  to  keet 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      177 

her  lips  closed  over  her  employer's  affairs  to  give 
information,  even  to  Chester,  except  under  protest. 

"Hm!  Well,  I  believe  I'll  sit  up  for  him  and 
help  him  off.  A  one-armed  man  needs  an  attend 
ant.  Don't  stay  up,  Miss  Mathewson.  I'll  take 
any  message  he  may  leave  for  you." 

"I'm  afraid  I  ought  to  wait,"  replied  the  faith 
ful  nurse  doubtfully. 

"I  don't  believe  it.  Go  home  and  go  to  bed, 
like  a  tired  girl,  as  you  no  doubt  are,  and  trust 
me.  If  he  wants  you  I  promise  to  telephone  you. 
I'll  see  him  off  and  like  to  do  it.  Come!" 

There  being  no  real  reason  for  doing  other 
wise  than  follow  this  most  sensible  advice,  Miss 
Mathewson  went  away.  Chester,  settling  him 
self  by  the  drop-light  in  the  chair  she  had  vacated, 
fancied  she  looked  a  trifle  disappointed  and  won 
dered  why.  Surely,  he  reasoned,  the  girl  must 
get  enough  of  erratic  night  work  without  sitting 
up  merely  to  hand  Burns  his  overcoat  and  wish 
him  a  pleasant  journey. 

It  was  a  long  wait.  Chester  enlivened  it  by 
telephoning  Winifred  that  he  wouldn't  be  home 
till  morning  —  or  sooner,  and  elicited  a  flurry  of 
questioning  which  he  evaded  rather  clumsily. 


178  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

It  was  all  right  for  him  to  be  curious  concerning 
Red's  affairs,  he  considered,  but  there  was  no 
need  for  the  women  to  get  started  on  inquisitive 
questions. 

He  read  himself  asleep  at  last  over  the  office 
magazines,  and  was  awakened  by  a  hurried  step 
on  the  porch  and  a  gust  of  November  night  air 
on  his  warm  face. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  was  the  ques 
tion  which  assaulted  him. 

"Sitting  up  for  you,"  was  Chester's  sleepy 
reply.  He  rubbed  his  eyes.  'Thought  you 
might  like  to  have  me  see  you  off." 

"I'm  not  going  anywhere  except  back  to  the 
case  I've  just  left.  Go  home  and  go  to  bed." 

Chester  sat  up.  He  looked  at  Burns  with 
awakening  interest.  He  had  never  seen  his 
friend's  face  look  grimmer  than  it  did  now  under 
the  gray  slouch  hat,  which  he  had  worn  for  the 
tramp,  pulled  well  down  over  his  brows,  and 
which,  during  all  his  preparations  and  his  hasty 
departure  in  the  car,  it  had  not  occurred  to  him 
to  remove  or  to  exchange  for  the  leather  cap  he 
usually  wore  on  such  trips. 

"Back  to  a  country  case  instead  of  to  Washing- 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      179 

ton  ?"  Incredulity  was  written  large  on  Chester's 
face. 

Burns  nodded,  growing  grimmer  than  before, 
if  that  were  possible.  He  sat  down  on  the  arm 
of  a  chair,  glancing  over  at  the  desk  where  his 
belongings  lay.  "How  did  you  know  I  was 
going  to  Washington  ?" 

"Inferred  it." 

"You're  mighty  quick  at  inference.  Maybe 
I  wasn't.  But  I  was.  Now  I'm  not.  That's 
all  there  is  to  it." 

"  But  why  not  ?  Can't  you  turn  the  case  over  ? 
I'll  bet  my  hat  it's  a  dead-beat  case  at  that!" 

Burns  nodded  again.     "It  is." 

"You're  an  ass,  then." 

"  Perhaps." 

"You  don't  expect  —  her  —  to  stay  in  Washing 
ton  waiting  for  you,  do  you,  when  she  only  came 
up  for  that  wedding  and  is  going  straight  back  to 
keep  some  other  engagements  ?  That's  what 
Win  says  she's  to  do." 

"No,  I  don't  expect  her  to  wait."  Burns 
pulled  the  slouch  hat  lower  yet.  Chester  could 
barely  see  his  eyes.  He  could  only  hear  the  tone 
of  his  denial  of  any  such  absurd  expectation. 


i8o  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Chester  rose  and  stood  looking  down  at  his 
friend,  who  had  folded  his  left  arm  over  his 
right  in  its  sling,  as  he  sat  on  the  chair  arm,  and 
looked  the  picture  of  dogged  resignation. 

"I  suppose  there's  some  reason  at  the  bottom 
of  what  strikes  me  as  pure  foolishness,"  he  ad 
mitted.  "You  won't  do  me  the  honour  of  men 
tioning  it?" 

"  Case  of  infected  wound  in  the  foot.  Threat 
ened  tetanus.  Five-year-old  child." 

"Nobody  competent  to  treat  the  case  but 
you?" 

Burns  looked  up.  Chester  saw  his  eyes  now, 
gloomy  but  resolute.  "No.  It's  up  to  me - 
alone.  I  owe  it  to  the  woman.  It's  the  only 
child  she  has  left:  a  girl.  It  was  her  boy  I  sent 
to  a  better  world  with  maledictions  on  his  mother's 
head." 

Comprehension  dawned  at  last  on  Chester's 
face.  He  saw  that,  taking  into  consideration 
Burns's  feeling  in  that  matter,  there  was  really 
nothing  to  be  said.  "I  hope  you  win  out,"  he 
evolved  at  length  from  the  confusion  of  ideas  in 
his  mind. 

"I  hope  I  do."     Burns  rose.     "I  must  send  a 


HE  GETS  EVEN  WITH  HIMSELF      181 

telegram,"  he  said,  and  went  to  the  telephone  in 
the  inner  office. 

While  he  was  there  Chester  heard  the  honk  of 
the  Imp's  horn  outside.  When  Burns  came  back 
he  opened  the  outer  door  and  called  to  Johnny 
Caruthers,  to  know  if  he  had  obtained  the  serum 
for  which  he  had  been  sent  to  the  druggist.  John 
ny  shouted  back  that  he  had.  Burns  turned  to 
Chester. 

"Good  night,"  he  said.  "Much  obliged  for 
waiting  up  for  me." 

Then,  with  a  certain  fighting  expression  on  his 
lips  which  Chester  had  learned  to  know  meant 
that  his  whole  purpose  was  set  on  the  attainment 
of  an  end  for  which  no  price  could  be  too  great  to 
pay,  Burns  went  out  to  Johnny  Caruthers  and  the 
Green  Imp. 


CHAPTER  XII 

IN    WHICH    HE    HAS    HIS    OWN    WAY 

DOC"  -Joe  Tressler  followed  Burns  down 
the  path,  leaving  his  wife  standing  in  the 
doorway,  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  retreating  figure 
of  the  man  who  had  saved  to  her  her  one  remain 
ing  child  -  "  Doc,  we  ain't  a-goin'  to  forget  this ! " 

"Neither  am  I,  Joe,  for  various  reasons,"  re 
plied  Burns,  watching  Johnny  Caruthers  try  the 
Green  Imp's  spark.  He  jumped  in  beside  Johnny 
and  looked  back  at  Joe.  "  Remember,  now,  keep 
things  going  just  as  I  leave  them,  and  I  shall 
expect  to  find  Letty  nearly  as  well  as  ever  when  I 
see  her  again.  I  shall  be  back  in  five  days. 
Good-bye." 

"Doc!" 

"Yes." 

"I'll  be  around  when  you  get  back,  with  some 
noney." 

Burns  looked  the  man  in  the  eye.     "Oh,  come, 

Joe,  don't  say  anything  you  don't  mean." 

182 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  183 

"I  mean  it  this  time,  Doc  —  I  sure  do.  Me 
and  the  old  woman  —  we  —  Letty  -  The 

fellow  choked. 

"All  right,  Joe.  I'm  as  glad  as  you  are  Letty's 
safe.  Take  care  of  her.  Take  care  of  your  wife. 
Do  a  stroke  of  good,  back-breaking  work  once  in 
a  while.  It'll  help  that  tired  feeling  of  yours  that's 
getting  to  be  dangerously  chronic.  You've  no 
idea,  Joe,  what  a  satisfaction  it  is,  now  and  then, 
to  feel  that  you've  accomplished  something.  Try 
it.  Good-bye." 

He  waved  his  hand  at  the  woman  in  the  door, 
who  responded  with  a  flutter  of  her  dingy  apron, 
which  was  immediately  thereafter  applied  to  her 
eyes.  Within,  by  the  window,  a  little  pale-faced 
girl  hugged  a  remarkable  doll  with  yellow  hair 
and  a  red  silk  frock. 

"You'd  ought  to  be  pretty  proud,  Letty  Tress- 
ler,"  said  the  woman,  returning  to  the  small 
convalescent,  "  to  think  Doc  kissed  you  when 
he  left.  He's  been  awful  good  to  you,  Doc 
has,  and  him  with  that  arm  in  a  sling  a-bothering 
him  all  the  time.  But  I  didn't  think  he'd  do 
that." 

"Maybe  it's  'cause  I'm  so  clean  now,5"  specu- 


184  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

lated    the    child   weakly.     "When   he    did    it  he 

whispered  in  my  ear  that  he  liked  clean  faces." 

"Letty,  you  ain't  goin'  to  have  any  kind  o' 
face  but  a  clean  face  after  this,  jest  on  account 
o'  Doc  Burns,"  vowed  her  mother  emotionally, 
and  the  child,  her  doll  pressed  against  her  face, 
nodded. 

Far  down  the  road  Burns  was  bidding  Johnny 
Caruthers  put  on  more  speed.  "We  have  to 
make  time  to-day,  Johnny,"  he  explained.  "I'm 
going  to  get  off  on  that  ten-thirty  to-night  if  I 
have  to  break  my  other  arm  to  do  it.  I  don't 
know  that  I'd  be  much  more  helpless  than  I  am 
now  if  I  did.  Curious,  Johnny,  how  many  things 
there  are  a  man  can't  do  with  one  hand." 

"I  should  say  you  could  do  more  with  that 
left  hand  of  yours  than  most  folks  can  with  both," 
declared  young  Caruthers,  honest  admiration  in 
his  eye. 

Burns  laughed  —  a  hearty,  care-free  laugh.  He 
was  in  wild  spirits,  Johnny  could  see  that,  and 
wondered  why  the  Doctor  should  be  so  happy 
over  pulling  a  dead-beat  family  out  of  their 
troubles.  Everybody  knew  Joe  Tressler.  And 
Johnny  understood  that  the  Doctor  had  given  up 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  185 

going  away  on  Joe's  account  ten  days  ago,  when 
he  took  the  case  on  the  eve  of  his  departure. 
Johnny  had  seen  his  employer  in  all  stages  of 
tension  since  that  day,  as  he  had  driven  him  out, 
at  first  half-a-dozen  times  in  the  twenty-four 
hours,  to  this  same  little  old  wreck  of  a  house. 
Johnny  had  driven  him  to  other  houses,  also; 
to  one  especially,  in  the  city,  where  the  lad  had 
sat  and  speculated  much  on  the  extremes  of 
experience  in  the  life  of  a  busy  practitioner. 

It  was  to  this  same  house  that  Johnny  took 
Burns  next;  a  house  reached  by  a  long  drive 
through  wonderful  grounds,  to  a  palace  of  a 
home  within  which  the  man  with  his  arm  in  the 
sling  disappeared  with  precisely  the  same  rather 
brusque  and  hurried  bearing  characteristic  of 
him  everywhere.  But  Johnny  could  not  see 
within.  If  he  had,  his  honest  eyes  might  have 
opened  still  wider. 

On  his  way  upstairs  Burns  was  intercepted 
by  the  master  of  the  house. 

"You've  decided  to  go  with  us,  Doctor  Burns, 
I  hope?"  The  question  was  put  in  the  fashion 
of  a  person  who  expects  but  one  answer.  But 
the  answer  proved  to  be  not  that  one  expected. 


i86  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"I'm  sorry,  but  I  can't  do  it,  Mr.  Walworth." 

Burns's  left  hand,  in  the  cordial  grip  which 
expresses  hearty  liking,  was  retained  while  William 
Walworth,  who  was  accustomed  to  be  able  to 
arrange  all  things  to  his  pleasure  by  the  simple 
expedient  of  paying  whatever  it  might  cost,  stared 
into  the  bright  hazel  eyes  which  met  his  with  their 
usual  straightforward  glance. 

"Can't'!  But  you  must,  my  dear  Doctor. 
Pardon  me,  but  I  feel  that  no  ordinary  considera 
tions  can  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  way.  My 
daughter  needs  your  care  on  this  journey.  Her 
mother  and  I  have  agreed  that  her  wish  to  have 
you  with  us  must  be  fulfilled.  It's  an  essential 
factor  in  her  recovery." 

"  It's  not  essential  at  all,  Mr.  Walworth.  Miss 
Evelyn  is  well  started  on  the  road  to  full  health; 
she  has  only  to  keep  on.  My  going  with  you  would 
be  a  mere  matter  of  pleasing  her,  and  that's  not 
in  the  least  necessary." 

His  smile  softened  the  words  which  struck 
upon  the  ear  of  the  magnate  with  an  unaccus 
tomed  sound.  Mr.  Walworth  released  Burns's 
hand,  his  manner  stiffening  slightly. 

"I  must  differ  with  you,  Doctor.     I  feel  that 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  187 

at  this  stage  Evelyn's  pleasure  is  a  thing  to  be 
planned  for.  She  has  taken  this  fancy  to  have 
you  with  us  on  the  Mediterranean  cruise.  We'll 
agree  to  land  you  and  send  you  home  at  the  end 
of  a  couple  of  months  if  you  positively  feel  that 
you  can't  neglect  your  practice  longer.  But  let 
me  remind  you,  Doctor,  that  your  fee  will  be  made 
to  cover  all  possible  income  from  your  practice 
during  that  time,  and  —  I  shall  not  be  contented 
to  measure  its  size  by  that." 

It  was  Burns's  turn  to  stiffen  within,  if  he  did 
not  let  it  show  outwardly.  He  spoke  positively 
and  finally.  Even  William  Walworth  saw  that 
it  would  be  of  no  use  to  urge  a  man  who  said 
quite  quietly: 

"I've  thought  it  over,  as  I  promised  you,  and 
decided  against  it.  I  assure  you  I  appreciate 
the  honour  you  would  do  me,  and  I  should  im 
mensely  like  the  experience.  But  I  know  my 
going  is  not  necessary  to  Miss  Evelyn's  recovery, 
and  that's  the  only  thing  that  could  make  me 
hesitate.  I'll  go  up  and  see  her  at  once,  if  you  will 
forgive  my  haste.  I  have  a  busy  day  before  me." 

William  Walworth  looked  after  him  as  he 
ran  up  the  stately  staircase,  and  his  thoughts 


i88  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

were  somewhat  as  Johnny  Caruthers's  had  been. 
"He's  more  of  a  man,  crippled  like  that,  than 
any  I  know.  I  wonder  why  he  won't  go.  I 
wonder.  But  he  won't,  that's  settled.  Now  to 
appease  Evelyn.  He'll  not  find  that  so  easy." 

Burns  did  not  find  it  easy.  He  sat  down  be 
side  the  convalescent,  a  patient  who  had  every 
thing  on  her  side  with  which  to  win  her  chosen 
physician's  consent  to  stay  by  her  till  she  should 
be  in  the  possession  once  more  of  the  blooming 
beauty  which  had  made  her  one  of  the  envied  of 
the  earth.  He  told  her,  in  the  direct  manner  he 
had  used  with  her  father,  that  he  could  not  fall 
in  with  their  plans. 

When  he  came  away  he  was  tingling  all  over. 
It  had  been  so  plain.  She  had  tried  to  disguise 
it,  but  she  was  where  she  could  not  run  to  cover, 
and  he  had  seen  it  all.  It  gave  him  no  pleasure: 
he  was  not  that  sort.  He  was  sorry  for  the  girl, 
but  he  was  not  in  the  least  anxious  about  her. 
She  would  get  over  it;  it  was  not  his  fault  —  he 
was  conscience-clear  on  that.  If  ever  he  had 
been  coolly  —  however  kindly  —  professional  in 
his  bearing  it  had  been  in  this  home  of  great 
wealth,  where  it  would  have  gone  against  his 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  189 

inmost  grain  to  have  seemed  to  court  liking.  If 
anything,  his  orders  had  been  more  curt,  his 
concessions  fewer,  his  whole  treatment  of  the 
case  on  simpler  lines  than  it  might  have  been  in 
almost  any  less  pretentious  home  with  which  he 
was  familiar. 

He  ran  down  the  stone  steps  in  eager  haste  to 
be  gone,  his  vision  still  engaged  with  the  reproach 
ful  look  Evelyn's  mother  had  given  him  when 
she  heard  of  his  incredible  refusal  to  accompany 
the  Walworths  on  the  luxuriously-equipped  ex 
pedition  in  search  of  recuperation  and  enjoyment 
for  the  idolized  only  daughter.  "This  settles 
me  with  them  to  the  end  of  time,  I  suppose,"  he 
said  to  himself.  As  the  car  ran  down  the  drive, 
he  straightened  his  shoulders  with  a  sense  of 
thankfulness  that  his  practice  was  not  often  in 
the  homes  of  the  comparatively  few  people  who 
can  afford  to  buy  even  that  most  precious  of 
commodities,  the  time  of  others,  when  that  time 
has  been  consecrated  to  certain  uses. 

"Not  going  to  stop  for  lunch,  Doctor  ?"  inquired 
young  Caruthers  anxiously,  as  the  round  of  calls 
went  on  and  one  o'clock  passed,  with  the  Imp  in 
a  portion  of  the  city  remote  from  the  hotel  at  which 


i9o  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Burns  was  accustomed  to  refresh  himself  and 
Johnny  when  home  was  out  of  the  question. 

"We'll  go  to  the  hospital  next,  and  I  shall  be 
there  a  couple  of  hours.  You  can  go  and  fill  up 
then.  I  must  be  back  at  the  office  by  four  —  for 
engagements." 

So  the  day  went.  The  busy  physician  who 
goes  out  of  town  for  even  a  five  days'  vacation  must 
plan  for  it  and  do  much  arranging  in  various  ways. 
In  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  would  still  be  many 
weeks  before  Burns  could  attempt  surgery  again, 
he  was  having  plenty  to  do.  Only  the  determina 
tion  to  get  away  this  time  without  fail  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  go.  But  there  would  be  never 
a  time  when  he  could  better  be  spared,  and  he 
meant  to  let  nothing  hinder  his  purpose. 

"The  arm's  coming  on  well,"  was  Doctor  Bul- 
ler's  verdict  late  that  afternoon  as  he  gave  the  heal 
ing  member  its  usual  manipulation  and  massage. 
"It  takes  patience  to  wait,  though,  doesn't  it, 
Burns  ?  Never  tried  a  broken  arm  myself,  but  I 
should  say  that  hand  must  be  itching  to  be  at  work 
in  the  operating-room  again." 

"Itching!  It's  burning,  blistering,  scarifying! 
I  never  knew  how  I  liked  that  part  of  my  work 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  191 

till  I  had  to  come  down  to  an  exclusive  practice 
in  pills  and  plasters.  Grayson's  doing  a  stunt 
to-day  that  would  have  driven  me  mad  with  envy 
if  I  could  have  stopped  to  look  on.  Doing  it 
cleverly,  too,  by  the  report  I  had  from  Van  Horn 
just  now.  When  Van  takes  the  trouble  to  praise 
another  man  it  means  something." 

"  Means  it's  been  forced  from  him,"  commented 
Duller.  "Besides,  Van  enjoys  praising  Grayson 
to  you.  He's  enjoyed  your  smashed  arm,  too,  the 
old  fraud.  Was  he  ever  so  decent  to  you  before  ? " 

Burns  laughed.  "You  can't  strike  fire  that 
way  to-day,"  he  declared.  "Hold  on!  You're 
not  going  to  put  that  arm  back  into  the  splints  ?" 

"Of  course  I  am.  It  lacks  two  days  yet  of 
the  shortest  modern  regulation  period.  Come  on 
here." 

"Leave  'em  off.     I'll  take  the  consequences." 

"Don't  be  foolish,  man.  If  I  had  my  way  I'd 
keep  the  thing  put  up  another  full  week.  I'm  not 
an  advocate  of  this  hurry  business." 

"I  am.  The  arm's  well  enough  to  come  out. 
I'll  wear  it  in  a  sling,  but  I  want  my  coat  sleeve  on, 
and  I'm  going  to  have  it  on.  Fix  me  up,  will 
you  ?  I'm  in  a  hurry." 


192  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"You're  going  on  a  journey?" 

"Yes.     Get  busy." 

"That's  the  very  reason  why  you  should  keep 
that  arm  out  of  danger  till  you  get  back.  Jostling 
round  in  a  crowd  - 

"Is  this  my  arm  or  yours  ?"  thundered  Burns. 

Duller  laughed.  "Don't  knock  me  down  with 
it,  Pepper-pot.  It  may  be  your  arm,  but  you're 
my  patient,  and  I  - 

"Don't  you  fool  yourself.  If  you  won't  fix 
me  up  I'll  go  out  with  it  hanging.  I  can  judge 
my  own  condition.  Will  you  dress  me  and  put 
my  arm  in  this  sling  here,  or  must  I  send  for 
Grayson  ?  He's  none  of  your  idiotic  conserva 
tives." 

"  Keep  quiet,  and  I'll  make  you  look  pretty, 
little  boy.  I  see  —  these  are  new  clothes  just  home 
from  the  tailor,  and  they're  an  elegant  fit.  Bully 
fresh  scarf,  peach  of  a  pin,  brand-new  black  silk 
sling  —  Oh,  I  say!" 

For  with  his  good  left  arm  Burns  was  threaten 
ing  his  professional  friend  in  a  way  that  looked 
ominous.  But  a  laugh  was  in  his  eye,  now  that  he 
had  got  his  way,  and  the  altercation  ended  in  a 
fire  of  jokes.  Then  Burns  stood  up. 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  193 

"You're  a  jewel,  Duller  boy,"  said  he.  "You've 
brought  me  through  in  great  shape.  It  was  a 
nasty  fracture,  and  you've  given  me  an  arm  that'll 
be  as  good  as  new.  I'm  grateful  —  you  know 
that.  Now,  if  you'll  look  over  that  list  I  gave  you 
of  cases  here  in  the  city,  and  go  out  once  to  take 
a  look  at  Letty  Tressler,  I'll  be  ever  faithfully 
yours.  Griggs'll  see  to  my  village  practice. 
Now  I'm  off." 

"Hope  you  enjoy  your  trip.  Must  be  a  con 
centrated  pleasure,  to  be  crammed  into  five  days 
and  still  make  you  look  like  a  schoolboy  just  let 
out,"  observed  Duller  as  Durns  turned,  with  his 
hand  on  the  door-knob. 

"A  dose  doesn't  have  to  be  big  to  be  powerful," 
rejoined  Durns,  opening  the  door. 

" Nitro-glycerin,  eh?"  Duller  called  after  the 
departing  bulk  of  his  friend.  "Don't  let  it  carry 
you  too  far  up.  You  might  come  down  with  a 
thud!" 

"He's  right  enough  there,"  was  what  Durns 
murmured  to  himself  as  he  caught  the  elevator 
in  the  great  building  in  which  Duller's  office  was 
a  crowded  corner.  "I  may  come  down  in  just 
that  style.  Dut  better  that  than  any  more  of 


i94  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

this  dead  level  of  suspense.  I  don't  think  I  could 
stand  that  one  more  day." 

He  and  Johnny  Caruthers  whirled  home  in  the 
Imp  to  find  Burns's  village  office  as  crowded  as 
Buller's  city  one.  It  was  late  before  he  could  get 
his  dinner,  and  after  it  he  was  kept  busy  turning 
calls  over  to  other  men.  It  was  the  usual  ex 
perience  to  have  work  pile  up  during  the  last  hours, 
as  if  Fate  were  against  his  breaking  his  chains 
and  meant  to  tie  him  hand  and  foot. 

"I'm  going  to  get  out  of  this  right  now,"  he 
announced  suddenly  to  Miss  Mathewson  an  hour 
before  train  time,  as  he  turned  away  from  a  siege 
over  the  telephone  with  one  hysterical  lady  who 
felt  that  her  life  depended  upon  his  remaining 
to  see  her  through  an  attack  of  indigestion.  "  If 
I  don't,  something  will  come  in  that  will  pull  hard 
to  keep  me  home,  and  I'm  not  going  to  be  kept. 
I'll  trust  you  not  to  look  me  up  for  the  next  hour, 
for  I'll  not  tell  you  where  I'm  going,  and  you  can't 
guess,  you  know.  Good-bye.  Be  a  good  girl." 

He  wrung  her  hand,  looking  at  her  with  that 
warmth  of  friendliness  which  he  was  accustomed, 
when  in  the  mood,  to  bestow  on  her,  recognizing 
how  invaluable  she  was  to  him,  and  never  once 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  195 

recking  what  it  meant  to  her  to  be  so  closely  as 
sociated  with  him.  She  answered  in  her  usual 
quiet  way,  wishing  him  a  safe  journey  and  bidding 
him  be  very  careful  of  the  arm,  no  longer  protected 
except  by  the  silken  sign  that  injury  had  been  done. 

"In  a  crowd,  you  know,  they  won't  notice  the 
sling,"  she  warned  him. 

"  Won't  they  ?  Well,  if  my  trusty  left  can't 
protect  my  battered  right  I've  forgotten  my  boxing 
tricks.  Don't  be  anxious  about  that,  little  friend. 
See  that  Amy  Mathewson  has  a  good  time  in  my 
absence,  will  you  ?  She's  looking  just  a  bit  worn, 
to  me." 

She  smiled,  but  her  eyes  did  not  meet  his:  she 
dared  not  let  them.  With  all  his  kindness  to  her 
he  did  not  often  speak  with  the  real  affection  which 
was  in  his  voice  now.  She  understood  that  he 
was,  for  some  reason,  keyed  high  over  his  pros 
pective  journey  —  even  higher  than  he  had  been 
ten  days  before  when  on  the  point  of  leaving. 
And  she  knew  well  enough  where  he  was  going, 
though  he  had  not  told  her.  It  would  have  taken 
thirty-six  hours  to  go  to  Washington,  spend  a 
brief  time  there  and  return.  It  was  going  to  take 
five  days  to  go  to  South  Carolina,  remain  long 


196  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

enough  to  transact  his  business  —  was  it  business  ? 
-  and  come  back.  And  there  had  been  no  more 
attempts  to  write  letters  by  way  of  an  amanuensis. 
The  affection  for  his  assistant  in  his  manner  to 
her  was  genuine,  she  did  not  doubt  that,  but  it 
did  not  deceive  her  for  a  moment.  So,  she  did  not 
let  her  eyes  meet  his.  They  rested,  instead,  on 
the  scarfpin  which  Buller  had  termed  a  "peach," 
but  they  did  not  see  it.  She  could  not  remember 
when  it  had  been  so  hard  to  maintain  that  quiet 
control  of  herself  which  had  long  since  made  her 
employer  cease  to  reckon  with  the  possibilities  of 
fire  beneath. 

R.  P.  Burns  stole  away  with  Johnny  and  the 
Imp,  without  so  much  as  letting  his  neighbours 
know  of  his  intentions.  He  had  made  sure  that 
they  were  all  well;  that  no  incipient  scarlet  fever 
or  invading  measles  was  threatening  them.  He 
smiled  to  himself  as  the  car  went  past  the  Chester 
house,  to  think  how  interested  they  would  be  to 
know  where  he  was  going.  But  he  got  safely  off 
and  nobody  opened  a  door  at  sound  of  the  Imp 
to  call  to  him  to  come  in  a  minute  because  some 
body  seemed  not  quite  well. 
And  then,  after  all,  he  ran  upon  Arthur  Chester— 


HE  HAS  HIS  OWN  WAY  197 

and  at  the  city  station,  to  which  he  had  taken  the 
precaution  to  go,  although  the  ten-thirty  stopped 
for  a  half-minute  at  the  village.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  he  tried  to  dodge  his  best  friend, 
but  he  did  not  succeed.  His  shoulders  were  too 
conspicuous:  he  could  not  get  away. 

"Going  to  see  an  out-of-town  patient  at  this 
hour  of  night?"  queried  Chester,  coming  up 
warmly  interested,  as  best  friends  have  a  trick  of 
being,  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be  done  to  avert  their 
curiosity. 

"Where  else  would  I  be  going?" 

"I  don't  know  where  else,  but  I  doubt  if  it's 
to  see  a  patient.  There's  an  air  about  you  that's 
not  professional.  You  —  er  —  you  can't  be 
going  to  Washington  ?  There's  nobody  there 
now." 

"No,  only  a  few  Government  officials  and 
some  odds  and  ends  of  hangers-on.  To  be  sure, 
Congress  is  in  session,  but  there's  nobody  there. 
My  train's  been  called,  Ches;  so  long." 

"Let  me  carry  your  bag."  Chester  reached  for 
it.  "  I  say,  this  isn't  a  tool-kit  —  this  is  a  stunner 
of  a  regulation  travelling  bag.  See  here,  Red"  — 
he  was  rushing  along  on  the  other's  side,  fairly 


i98  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

running  to  keep  up  with  Burns's  strides  --  "how 
long  are  you  going  to  be  gone  ?" 

"Long  enough  to  get  a  change  of  air.  The 
atmosphere's  heavy  here  with  inquisitive  people 
who  call  themselves  your  friends.  See  here, 
Ches,  you're  not  looking  well.  You  need  rest 
and  sleep.  Go  home  and  go  to  bed." 

"You're  always  telling  me  to  go  home  and  go  to 
bed.  Not  till  I  see  which  train  you  take,"  panted 
Chester,  his  eyes  sparkling.  "Ha!  Going  to 
turn  in  at  Number  Four  gate,  are  you  ?  Sorry  I 
can't  take  your  bag  inside.  Well,  possibly  I  can 
guess  your  destination.  Got  your  section  clear 
through  to  South  Carolina  ?  I  say,  keep  your 
head,  old  man,  keep  your  head!" 

Burns  turned  about,  shook  his  fist  at  Arthur 
Chester,  seized  his  bag,  rushed  through  the  gate 
way  and  boarded  the  last  of  the  long  string  of  Pull 
mans.  On  the  platform  he  pulled  off  his  hat  and 
waved  it  at  his  friend.  He  could  forgive  anybody 
for  anything  to-night. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

IN  WHICH   HE    MAKES    NO   EVENING   CALL 

BURNS  opened  the  white  gate  —  it  was  sag 
ging  a  little  on  its  hinges  —  and  walked 
up  the  moss-grown  path  between  the  rows  of  live- 
oaks  to  the  tall-columned  portico  of  the  still  stately, 
if  somewhat  time-worn  and  decayed,  mansion 
among  the  shrubbery.  It  was  just  at  dusk,  and 
far  away  somewhere  a  whippoorwill  was  calling. 
It  was  the  only  sound  on  the  quiet  air. 

The  door  was  opened  by  an  old  negro  servant, 
who  hesitated  over  his  answer  to  the  question  put 
by  this  unknown  person  looming  up  before  him 
with  his  arm  in  a  sling.  Mrs.  Elmore  was  in,  but 
she  was  not  well  and  could  not  see  any  visitors 
this  evening. 

"Is  Mrs.  Lessing  in?" 

"Yas,  sah,  she  is.  But  she  done  tole  me  she 
couldn't  see  nobody  herse'f.  She  tekkin'  cah  ob 
Miss  Lucy." 

Burns  produced  his  card  and  made  a  persuasive 
199 


200  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

request.  The  old  darky  led  the  way  to  a  long, 
nearly  dark  apartment,  where  the  scent  of  roses 
mingled  with  the  peculiar  odour  of  old  mahogany 
and  ancient  rugs  and  hangings.  The  servant  lit 
a  tall,  antique  lamp  with  crystal  pendants  hanging 
from  its  shade,  the  light  from  which  fell  upon  a 
bowlful  of  crimson  roses  so  that  they  glowed  rich 
ly.  He  left  Burns,  departing  with  a  shuffling 
step  and  an  air  of  grudging  the  strange  gentleman 
the  occupancy  of  the  room,  although  it  was  to  be 
for  only  so  long  as  it  would  take  to  bring  back 
word  that  neither  of  the  ladies  would  see  him 
to-night. 

Burns  sat  still  for  the  space  of  two  minutes; 
then,  as  no  further  sound  could  be  heard  in  the 
quiet  house,  he  became  restless.  His  pulses  beat 
rather  heavily  and,  to  quiet  them  or  the  sense  of 
them,  he  got  up  and  walked  about,  pausing  at 
one  of  the  long  French  windows  to  gaze  out  into 
the  dusky  labyrinth  of  a  garden,  where  he  could 
just  make  out  paths  winding  about  among  the 
bushes.  The  night  was  mild,  and  the  window 
stood  ajar  as  if  some  one  had  lately  come  in. 

Then  he  turned  and  saw  her.  She  had  almost 
reached  him,  but  he  had  not  heard  her,  her  footfall 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL       201 

upon  the  old  Turkey  carpet  with  its  faded  roses 
and  lilies  had  been  so  light.  She  was  in  white, 
and  the  light  from  the  old  lamp  shone  on  her  arms 
and  face  and  brought  out  the  shadows  of  her  hair 
and  eyes.  She  put  out  both  hands  —  then  quickly 
drew  back  one  as  her  glance  fell  upon  the  sling, 
and  gave  him  her  left,  smiling.  But  he  drew  the 
arm  that  had  been  broken  out  of  its  support  and 
held  it  out. 

"Please  take  this  hand,  too,"  he  said.  "It  will 
be  its  first  experience  and,  perhaps,  it  will  put 
new  life  into  it.  It's  pretty  limp  yet." 

She  laid  hers  in  it  very  gently,  looking  down  at 
it  as  his  fingers  closed  slowly  over  hers. 

"That's  doing  very  well,  I  should  think,"  she 
said.  "It's  barely  time  for  it  to  be  independent 
yet,  is  it?" 

"About  time.  I  had  something  of  a  wrestle 
with  Doctor  Buller  to  get  him  to  leave  the  splints 
off.  How  warm  and  soft  your  hand  is.  This  one 
of  mine  has  forgotten  how  the  touch  of  another 
hand  feels." 

"  I'm  sure  you  ought  not  to  use  it  yet.  Please 
put  it  back  in  the  sling."  She  drew  her  own  hand 
gently  away. 


202  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

It  occurred  to  him  that  while  he  had  been  absent 
from  her  he  had  not  been  able  to  recall  half  her 
charm,  and  that  if  he  had  he  would  never  have 
been  able  to  wait  half  so  long  before  pursuing  her 
down  into  this  Southern  haunt  of  hers.  He  drew 
a  full,  contented  breath. 

"At  last,"  he  said,  "I  am  face  to  face  with  you. 
It's  worth  the  journey." 

In  the  lamplight  it  seemed  to  him  the  roses 
cast  a  reflection  on  her  face  which  he  had  not 
observed  at  first. 

"I'm  so  sorry  Aunt  Lucy  isn't  able  to  see  you 
to-night,"  she  said-  "unless  she  would  consent 
to  see  you  professionally.  She  really  ought  — 

He  held  up  his  hand.  "Not  unless  she  is  in 
serious  straits,  please,"  he  begged.  "I've  fled 
from  patients,  only  to  find  them  all  the  way  down 
on  the  train.  I  don't  know  what  there  can  be 
about  me  to  suggest  to  a  conductor  that  I'm  the 
man  he's  looking  for  to  attend  some  emergency 
case,  but  he  seems  to  spot  me.  Only  at  the  station 
before  this  did  I  get  released  from  the  last  of  the 
series.  Let  me  forget  my  profession  for  a  bit  if 
I  can.  Just  now  I'm  only  a  man  who's  come  a 
long  way  to  see  you.  Is  it  really  you  ? " 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL       203 

He  leaned  forward,  studying  her  intently.  His 
head,  with  its  coppery  thatch  of  heavy  hair,  showed 
powerful  lines  in  the  lamplight;  beneath  his  dark 
brows  the  hazel  eyes  glowed  black. 

"It's  certainly  I,"  she  answered  lightly.  "And 
being  I,  with  the  mistress  of  the  house  prevented 
from  showing  you  hospitality,  I  must  offer  it. 
She  begged  me  to  make  you  comfortable  and  to 
tell  you  she  would  see  you  in  the  morning.  >  You've 
had  a  long  journey.  You  must  want  the  comfort 
of  a  room  and  hot  water.  I'll  ring  for  Old 
Sam." 

She  crossed  the  room  and  pulled  an  old-fashion 
ed  bell-cord,  upon  which  a  bell  was  heard  to  jangle 
far  away.  The  old  darky  reappeared. 

"I  should  have  gone  to  a  hotel,"  Burns  said, 
"if  I  could  have  found  one  in  the  place." 

"There  is  none.  And  if  there  had  been  Aunt 
Lucy  would  have  been  much  hurt  to  have  you  go 
there.  Where  did  you  leave  your  bag  ?" 

"At  the  station.  I  can  stay  only  for  a  night 
and  a  day,  so  it's  a  small  one." 

"I'll  send  Young  Sam  for  it.  Now  let  Sam 
take  you  to  your  room,  and  in  a  few  minutes  I'll 
give  you  supper." 


204  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Don't  bother  about  supper  at  this  hour.  I 
only  want  - 

"You  want  what  you  are  to  have,  —  some  of 
Sue's  delicious  Southern  cookery."  She  smiled  at 
him  as  he  looked  back  at  her,  following  the  old 
servant.  "She's  been  in  the  family  for  forty  years 
and  she  loves  to  have  company  to  appreciate 
her  dishes.  Sam,  you  are  to  help  Doctor  Burns. 
He  has  had  a  broken  arm." 

When  Burns  came  down,  fresh  from  a  bath  and 
comfortable  with  clean  linen,  he  smelled  odours 
which  made  him  realize  that,  eager  as  he  was  for 
other  things,  he  was  human  enough  to  be  intensely 
hungry  with  a  healthy  man's  appetite.  So  he 
surrendered  himself  to  the  fortunes  that  now  be 
fell  him. 

Old  Sam  conducted  him  to  the  dining-room,  a 
quaintly  attractive  apartment  where  candle-light 
illumined  the  bare  mahogany  of  the  round  table 
laid  with  a  large  square  of  linen  at  his  place  and 
set  with  delicate  ancient  china  and  silver.  Ellen 
Lessing  was  already  there  in  a  high-backed  chair 
opposite  the  one  set  for  him,  a  figure  to  which 
his  eyes  were  again  drawn  irresistibly  and  upon 
which  they  continued  to  rest  as  he  took  his  seat. 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL       205 

Sam  disappeared  toward  the  kitchen,  and  Burns 
spoke  in  a  low  voice  across  the  table. 

"I  feel  as  if  I  were  in  a  dream,"  said  he.  "Forty- 
eight  hours  ago  I  was  rushing  about,  hundreds  of 
miles  from  here,  trying  to  attend  to  the  wants  of 
a  lot  of  people  who  seemed  determined  not  to  let 
me  get  away.  Now  I'm  down  here  in  the  midst 
of  all  this  quiet  and  peace,  with  you  before  me  to 
look  at,  and  nobody  to  demand  anything  of  me  for 
at  least  twenty-four  hours.  It's  all  too  good  to  be 
true." 

"It  seems  rather  odd  to  me,  too,"  she  answered, 
letting  her  eyes  stray  from  his  and  rest  upon  the 
bowl  of  japonicas,  of  a  glowing  pink,  which  stood 
in  the  centre  of  the  table.  The  candle-light 
made  little  starry  points  in  her  dark  eyes  as  she 
looked  at  the  rich-hued  blooms.  "The  last  person 
in  the  world  I  was  expecting  to  see  to-night  was 
you." 

"I  suppose  I  was  as  far  from  your  thoughts  as 
your  expectation,"  he  suggested. 

"How  should  I  be  thinking  of  a  person  who  had 
not  written  to  me  for  so  long  I  thought  he  had  for 
gotten  me  ?"  she  asked,  and  then  as  he  broke  out 
into  a  delighted  laugh  at  her  expense  she  grew  as 


206  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

pink  as  her  flowers  and  seemed  to  welcome  the 
return  of  Sam  bearing  a  trayful  of  Sue's  good 
things  to  eat. 

Fried  chicken  and  sweet  potatoes,  beaten  biscuit 
and  fragrant  coffee,  had  a  flavour  all  their  own  to 
Burns  that  night.  He  ate  as  a  hungry  man  should, 
yet  never  forgot  his  companion  for  a  moment  or 
allowed  her  to  imagine  that  he  forgot  her.  And 
by  and  by  the  meal  was  over  and  the  two  rose 
from  the  table. 

"I  must  go  and  see  that  Auntie  is  comfortable 
for  the  night,  if  you  will  excuse  me  for  half  an 
hour,"  said  the  person  he  had  come  to  see.  "Will 
you  wait  in  the  drawing-room  ?  I  will  have  Sam 
bring  you  some  late  magazines." 

"I'll  wait,  and  no  magazines,  thank  you.  I 
can  fill  the  time  somehow,"  he  answered.  "  But 
don't  let  it  be  more  than  the  half-hour,  will  you  ?" 

He  watched  her  until  she  disappeared  from  his 
sight  at  the  turn  of  the  staircase  landing,  then  went 
in  to  pace  up  and  down  the  long  room,  his 
left  arm  folded  over  his  right,  after  the  fashion  he 
had  acquired  since  the  right  arm  became  useless. 
After  what  seemed  an  interminable  interval  she 
came  back.  He  met  her  at  the  door. 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL       207 

"Are  the  duties  all  done?"  he  inquired. 

"All  done  for  the  present.  I  must  look  in  on 
Auntie  by  and  by,  but  I  think  she  is  going  to 
sleep." 

"May  she  sleep  the  sleep  of  the  just!  And 
there's  nothing  more  you  feel  it  incumbent  upon 
you  to  do  for  me  ?  No  more  sending  me  to  my 
room,  no  more  waiting  upon  me  by  Sam,  no  more 
feeding  me  till  my  capacity  is  reached  ?  Is  there 
really  no  notion  in  your  mind  as  to  how  you  can 
put  off  the  coming  hour  ?" 

His  voice  had  its  old,  whimsical  inflection,  but 
there  was  a  deeper  note  in  it,  too.  She  parried 
him  gently,  yet  not  quite  so  composedly  as  was  her 
wont. 

"Why  should  I  want  to  put  it  off?  Aren't  we 
going  to  sit  down  and  have  a  delightful  talk  ?  I 
want  to  hear  all  about  Bob  and  Martha  and  all  of 
them,  and  about  your  work  since  I  saw  you." 

"You  want  to  hear  all  about  those  things,  do 
you  ?  I  had  the  impression  that  we  discussed  them 
quite  thoroughly  while  I  was  at  supper.  Still,  I 
can  go  over  them  all  again  if  you  insist.  It  may 
take  up  another  five  minutes,  and  when  one  is 
fencing  for  time,  even  five  minutes  counts." 


2o8  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

It  was  his  old  way,  with  a  vengeance.  There 
was  a  saying  of  Arthur  Chester's  current  among 
his  and  Burns's  friends  that  it  never  was  of  any 
use  to  try  to  evade  Red  Pepper  when  once  he  had 
begun  to  fire  upon  your  defenses.  With  his  eyes 
searching  you  and  his  insolent  tongue  putting 
point  blank  questions  to  you,  you  might  as  well 
capitulate  first  as  last. 

There  being  no  conceivable  answer  to  this 
thrust  about  fencing  for  time,  even  for  a  woman 
experienced  in  replying  skilfully  to  men  under  all 
sorts  of  conditions,  Ellen  Lessing  was  forced  to 
look  up  or  play  the  part  of  a  shy  girl.  So  she 
looked  up,  lifting  her  head  bravely.  There  really 
was  nothing  else  to  do. 

It  was  all  in  his  face.  He  had  not  come  all  those 
hundreds  of  miles  to  pay  her  an  evening  call,  nor 
did  he  mean  to  be  put  off  longer.  His  eyes  held 
hers:  she  could  not  withdraw  them. 

"It's  odd,"  he  said,  speaking  slowly,  "how 
like  a  magnet  drawing  a  steel  bar  you've  drawn 
me  down  here.  Pull  —  pull  — pull  — an  irresistible 
force.  I  wonder  if  the  magnet  feels  the  attraction, 
too?  Could  it  pull  so  hard  if  it  didn't?" 

There  was  a  long  minute  during  which  neither 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL       209 

stirred  —  it  might  have  been  the  counterpart  of 
that  minute,  months  back,  when  they  had  first 
observed  each  other.  Recognition  it  was,  perhaps, 
at  the  very  first;  there  could  be  no  question  about 
the  recognition  now  —  it  went  deep. 

Suddenly  he  slipped  his  right  arm  out  of  the 
sling.  Before  she  could  draw  breath  she  was  in 
the  circle  of  his  arms,  but  he  had  not  touched  her. 

"Am  I  wrong  ?"  he  was  saying.  "Has  it  pulled 
both  ways  from  the  first  ?" 

It  must  be  as  useless  for  the  magnet  to  resist  as 
for  the  bar.  And  when  they  have  come  within  a 
certain  distance  of  each  other  — 

If  Red  Pepper's  left  arm  caught  her  in  the 
stronger  grasp,  the  right  did  all,  and  more  than  all, 
that  could  have  been  expected  of  it.  It  was  his 
right  arm  which  slowly  drew  her  hands  up,  one 
after  the  other,  and  indicated  to  them  that  their 
place  was,  locked  together,  behind  his  neck. 

An  old  garden  in  South  Carolina  is  a  place  to 
lure  the  Northerner  out-of-doors.  Before  break 
fast  next  morning  Burns  was  walking  down  the 
box-bordered  paths,  feasting  his  gaze  and  his 
sense  of  fragrance  on  the  clumps  of  blue  and  white 


210  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

violets,  the  clusters  of  gay  crocuses,  the  splendid 
spikes  of  Roman  hyacinths.  But  he  did  not  fail 
to  keep  track  of  all  doorways  in  sight,  and  when  she 
appeared  at  the  open  French  window  of  the 
drawing-room  he  was  there  in  a  trice,  offering  her 
a  bunch  of  purple  violets  and  feasting  his  eyes 
upon  her  morning  freshness. 

"I'm  still  dreaming,  I  think,"  said  he  when  he 
had  drawn  her  back  into  the  quiet  room  long 
enough  to  satisfy  himself  with  the  active  demon 
stration  that  possession  means  privilege,  and  had 
himself  fastened  the  violets  in  the  front  of  her 
crisp  white  morning  dress.  "Dreaming  that  I 
can  stay  down  here  in  this  wonderful  paradise 
with  you  and  not  go  back  to  the  slave's  life  I  lead." 

"You  would  never  be  happy  away  from  that 
slave's  life  long,  you  know,"  she  reminded  him. 
"The  rush  of  it  is  the  joy  of  it  to  you." 

"How  will  it  be  to  you  ?  I  shall  be  yours,  you 
remember,  till  Joe  Tressler  or  any  other  ne'er-do- 
weel  wants  me,  then  I'm  his." 

"But  you'll  always  come  back  to  me,"  said 
she. 

"And  will  you  be  content  with  that?" 

"So  long  as  you  want  to  come  back." 


HE  MAKES  NO  EVENING  CALL      211 

He  looked  steadily  into  her  eyes,  and  his  own 
took  fire.  "Want  to  come  back!  I've  waited  a 
long  time  to  find  the  woman  I  could  be  sure  I 
should  always  want  to  come  back  to.  I  thought 
there  would  never  be  such  a  woman:  not  for 
an  erratic  fellow  like  me.  .  .  .  But  now  - 
I'm  wondering  how  I  shall  ever  be  able  to  stay 
away!" 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IN  WHICH  HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION 

SHADES  of  Hymen!  Red,  are  you  making 
calls  this  morning?" 

"Why  not?  I'm  not  to  be  married  till  noon, 
ami?" 

"  I  say,  take  me  with  you,  will  you  ?  I  want  to 
go  along  with  a  man  who  has  the  nerve  to  see 
patients  up  to  the  last  minute  before  his  wedding! " 

"Takes  less  nerve  than  to  sit  around  and  wait 
for  the  fateful  hour,  I  should  say.  Come  on,  if 
you  think  you'll  have  time  to  dress  when  you  get 
back.  It  may  be  close  work." 

"Haven't  you  got  to  dress  yourself?"  demanded 
Arthur  Chester,  settling  himself  in  the  car  beside 
its  driver.  "Or  shall  you  go  to  the  altar  in  tweeds 
with  April  mud  on  your  boots  ? " 

"  Rather  than  not  get  there,  yes.  But  I  can 
dress  in  half  the  time  you  can  —  always  could, 
and  necessity  has  developed  the  art.  Look  here, 
there  isn't  any  April  mud.  The  roads  are  fine." 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  213 

"Oh,  I  suppose  if  I  were  booked  for  a  wedding 
journey  in  the  Green  Imp  before  the  leaves  were 
fairly  out  I  shouldn't  be  able  to  see  any  mud  my 
self.  As  it  is,  well,  I  don't  know  the  colour  of 
the  bride's  motoring  clothes,  but  I  presume  they'll 
be  adapted  to  the  circumstances.  I  never  saw 
her  look  anything  but  ready  for  whatever  situation 
she  happened  to  be  in.  That's  a  trick  that'll 
serve  her  many  a  good  turn  as  the  wife  of  R.  P. 
Burns,  M.D.,  eh,  Red?" 

The  Imp  whirled  about  the  country  all  the 
morning,  having  made  an  early  start.  The  car 
was  in  fine  fettle,  like  a  horse  that  has  been  trained 
for  a  race.  Although  it  was  beginning  its  second 
season  it  had  never  been  in  better  trim  for  business. 
The  engine,  having  been  cared  for  and  seldom 
abused,  was  running  more  smoothly  than  when  it 
had  been  first  put  upon  the  road.  The  Imp  had 
had  a  fresh  coat  of  the  dark-green  which  gave  it 
its  name,  and  its  brasswork  was  shining  as  only 
Johnny  Caruthers  by  long  and  untiring  labours 
could  make  metal  shine.  It  had  that  morning 
acquired  a  luggage-rack  attached  to  its  rear, 
which  was  soon  to  receive  a  leather-covered  motor 
trunk  at  that  moment  receiving  its  final  consign- 


214  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

ments  in  the  Macauley  house;  and  there  were 
several  other  new  fittings  about  the  machine  which 
indicated  that  it  was  presently  to  be  put  to  uses 
which  had  never  been  required  of  it  before. 

The  Imp  drew  up  in  front  of  the  hospital. 
Chester  looked  anxiously  at  his  watch  for  the 
twenty-seventh  time  that  morning.  "  For  Heaven's 
sake,  hurry,  Red,"  he  urged.  "Women  are  the 
dickens  about  having  a  wedding  late,  and  it's  ten 
minutes  of  eleven  now.  Noon  comes  sure  and 
soon,  and  at  noon,  allow  me  to  remind  you  - 

Burns  nodded.  "  Keep  cool,  boy,"  he  recom 
mended.  "  No  use  getting  excited  before  a  critical 
operation. " 

But  he  disappeared  at  a  pace  fast  enough  to 
satisfy  Chester,  who  sat  back  and  said  to  himself 
that  R.  P.  had  come  nearer  giving  the  crisis  be 
fore  him  its  appropriate  name  than  he  had  ever 
heard  done  before. 

He  became  anxious  again,  however,  before 
Burns  returned,  and  his  watch  was  in  his  hand 
when  the  prospective  bridegroom  bolted  out  of 
the  hospital  door  and  ran  for  his  car  as  if  he  had 
not  a  moment  to  spare. 

"Glad  to  see  you're  losing  your  head  a  trifle 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  215 

at  last,"  commented  Chester  as  the  Imp  turned 
a  dizzy  curve  and  shot  away.  "It's  the  only 
proper  thing.  But  we've  really  enough  time  if 
you  don't  stop  anywhere  else.  What's  the  matter  ? 
Good  Lord,  man,  you'll  get  nabbed  if  you  speed  up 
like  this  within  limits.  You  — 

"  Cut  it  and  don't  talk.  I've  got  to  make  time," 
was  all  the  answer  or  explanation  he  received; 
and  Chester,  with  the  wisdom  of  long  association 
with  Red  Pepper  at  his  pepperiest,  obeyed. 

As  they  approached  the  house  Burns  spoke  for 
the  first  time  since  they  had  left  the  city.     "Go 
in  and  tell  the  bunch  I  have  to  do  an  operation  at 
the  hospital  as  quick  as  I  can  get  my  stuff  and 
drive  back  there.     I'll  be  back  at  - 
"Great  Christopher,   man!     But — 
"  I  can  be  back  by  two.     Ellen  will  understand. " 
"The  deuce  she  will!     Don't  ask  me  to  explain 
to  her." 

"  I  won't.  I'll  do  it  myself.  You  tell  the  rest." 
The  Imp  shot  up  the  driveway.  Burns  jumped 
out  and  ran  to  his  office.  Five  minutes  later, 
instrument  bag  in  hand,  he  ran  out  again,  Miss 
Mathewson  following.  He  bolted  in  at  the  Macau- 
leys'  front  door.  Chester  had  already  broken  the 


216  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

incredible  news  to  Martha  Macauley  and  was 
standing  out  a  storm  of  expostulations  and  re 
proaches,  as  if  by  any  chance  anybody  could  expect 
Arthur  Chester  to  be  able  to  stop  R.  P.  Burns 
when  he  had  started  upon  any  course  of  action 
whatsoever.  But  when  Burns  himself  appeared  at 
the  doorway  the  situation  came  to  a  crisis.  Tow 
ering  beside  a  group  of  palms  which  decorated 
the  foot  of  the  staircase  Burns  demanded  to  see 
Ellen. 

"Why,  Red,  you  can't.  She's  —  besides — • 
how  can  you  - 

"Ask  her  to  come  where  I  can  speak  to  her 
then.  Quick,  please." 

"But  she-    -" 

There  was  no  knowing  how  long  the  sparring 
might  have  lasted,  or  what  extreme  measures 
might  have  been  taken,  had  not  a  figure  in  a 
floating  lilac-and-white  garment,  with  two  long 
braids  of  dark  hair  hanging  over  its  shoulders, 
appeared  upon  the  staircase  landing.  Burns 
looked  up,  saw  it,  and  was  up  the  stairs  to  the 
landing  before  Chester  could  flick  an  eyelash. 

"Dear,  to  save  a  life  I  want  to  delay  things 
just  two  hours.  There's  nobody  else  to  do  it. 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  217 

Van  Horn  was  taken  ill  just  as  he  was  getting 
ready.  The  only  other  man  who  would  ven 
ture  under  the  conditions  —  Grayson  —  is  out  of 
town." 

His  arms  were  about  her  as  she  stood  a  step 
above  him.  So,  her  eyes  were  level  with  his. 

"Do  it,  of  course,"  she  whispered.  "And  take 
my  love  with  you." 

For  one  minute  Burns  stayed  to  tell  her  that 
he  had  known  she  would  send  him  to  his  duty, 
then  he  was  off.  The  door  slammed  behind  him, 
and  outside  the  Imp's  horn  sent  back  a  parting 
salute. 

From  the  bottom  stair  Martha  Macauley, 
distressed  young  matron  and  hostess,  gazed  up 
at  her  sister,  who,  with  arms  leaning  on  the  vine- 
wreathed  rail  at  the  landing,  was  smiling  down  at 
her. 

"Ellen!  Was  ever  anything  so  crazy!  I  did 
suppose  Red  would  take  time  enough  to  be 
married  in.  There's  everybody  coming  — 

"So  few  you  can  easily  telephone  them  all  to 
wait." 

"And  the  breakfast  under  way " 

"It  will  keep." 


2i8  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

"Aren't  you  superstitious  enough  not  to   want 
^  postpone  your  wedding?"  demanded  Martha 
urgently. 

The   dark   braids   of  hair  swung   violently   as 
the  bride's  head  was  emphatically  shaken.     «  Mar- 
Take  it  back!     Let  somebody  die  because 
I  was  afraid  to  wait  two  hours  ?" 

"I  don't  believe  anybody  would  die,"  insisted 

Martha.     "Somebody  could  be  found.     It's  just 

Red's  ridiculous  craze  for  surgery.     I  always  said 

rather   operate   than   eat.     Now,   it  seems, 

ne  d  rather  operate  than  be " 

But  at  this  moment  a  large,  determined  hand 

ame   over   her   mouth   from   behind,   as   James 

Macauley,  Junior,  arriving  upon  the  scene,  as- 

erted  his   authority.     He  was  in   bathrobe  and 

slippers,    having   been    excitedly   interviewed    by 

Chester  through  the  bathroom  door. 

"Quit   fussing,    Marty.     The    thing    can't    be 
helped,  and  if  Ellen  doesn't  mind  I  don't  know 
why  we  should.     If  we  were  having  a  houseful 
:  would  be  fierce,  but  with  only  ourselves  and 
the  Chesters  and  the  minister's  family  and  Red's 
people -I'll  go    telephone  Mr.  Harding  now." 
As  Martha  freed  herself  from  the  silencing  hand 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  219 

the  front  door  opened  again.  Thi£  time  it  was 
Mrs.  Richard  Warburton  —  Burns's  young  sister 
Anne  —  also  in  somewhat  informal  attire,  over 
which  she  had  thrown  an  evening  coat.  She  sur 
veyed  the  group  with  laughing  eyes.  She  herself 
had  been  married  within  the  year. 

"It's  absurd,  isn't  it?"  she  cried.  "But  it's 
just  like  Red.  Ellen  knows  that,  don't  you, 
dear  ?  Ellen'll  not  only  take  him  for  better  and 
for  worse,  but  for  present  and  for  absent  —  mostly 
absent!  But  we're  rather  proud  of  him  over  at 
the  house.  Father's  walking  up  and  down  and 
saying  no  other  fellow  would  have  done  it,  and 
Mother's  all  tearful  and  smiling.  Dick  wanted 
to  go  in  with  him,  but  of  course  Miss  Mathewson 
had  to  go:  he  seldom  operates  without  her." 

"It's  so  uncertain  when  he'll  get  back,"  mourn 
ed  Martha,  still  unreconciled. 

"I  made  Miss  Mathewson  promise  to  tele 
phone,  the  moment  she  should  know.  It's  lucky 
the  wedding  guests  are  all  in  the  family,  isn't  it? 
Ellen,  dear  "--pretty  Anne  ran  up  the  stairs  to 
the  landing  — "  I  really  don't  see  how,  after  he 
caught  sight  of  you  in  that  fascinating  garb,  with 
your  hair  down,  he  could  ever  tear  himself  away! 


220  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

You're  positively  the  loveliest  thing  I  ever  saw 
in  all  my  life,  and  I'm  almost  out  of  my  senses 
with  joy  that  you're  to  be  my  sister,  even  though 
I  never  saw  you  in  the  world  till  yesterday!  I 
always  said  when  Red  did  care  for  anybody  for 
keeps,  she'd  be  a  jewel!" 

Red  Pepper  came  back  at  precisely  twenty 
minutes  of  three.  His  patient  had  given  him  a 
bad  hour  of  anxiety  immediately  after  leaving 
the  table,  and  he  could  not  desert  her  until  she 
had  rallied.  But  he  felt  easy  about  her  now, 
and  he  had  arranged  to  leave  her  in  Buller's 
hands  —  Buller,  who  did  not  do  major  surgery 
himself,  but  was  a  most  competent  man  when 
it  came  to  the  care  of  surgical  patients  after  opera 
tion.  Burns  brought  Amy  Mathewson  back  with 
him,  though  she  had  begged  to  be  allowed  to  stay 
with  the  case. 

"And  not  be  at  my  wedding?"  cried  Red 
Pepper,  in  exuberant  spirits.  "Why,  I  couldn't 
be  properly  married  without  you  to  see  me 
through!" 

Upon  which  she  had  smiled  and  obeyed  him, 
and  taken  a  tighter  grip  upon  herself  as  he  put 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  221 

her  into  the  Green  Imp  for  the  last  ride  together. 
That  was  what  it  was  to  her,  though  she  might 
yet  go  with  him  a  thousand  times  to  help  him 
in  his  work.  To  him  it  was  a  quick  and  joyful 
journey  back  to  his  marriage. 

"All  right,  Mother  and  Dad!"  he  exulted, 
coming  in  upon  them  in  their  festal  array.  He 
shook  hands  with  his  father  and  his  brother-in- 
law;  he  kissed  his  mother.  Then  he  ran  for 
his  own  room  where  Bobby  Burns,  just  being 
finished  off  by  Anne,  herself  superbly  dressed, 
shrieked  with  rapture  at  the  sight  of  him. 

"Red!  At  last!  I've  laid  everything  ready; 
you've  only  to  jump  into  your  bath;  I  turned 
on  the  water  when  Dick  saw  the  Imp  down  the 
road.  Don't  you  dare  have  a  vestige  of  a  surgical 
odour  about  you  when  you  come  out!" 

In  precisely  seventeen  minutes  and  three-quar 
ters  the  bridegroom  was  ready  to  the  last  coppery 
hair  on  his  head. 

"Have  I  a  'surgical  odour/  Anne?"  he  asked 
as  he  came  up  to  her. 

She  buried  her  face  on  his  shoulder,  both  arms 
about  him,  regardless  of  her  finery.  "You're 
the  dearest,  sweetest  old  trump  of  a  brother 


222  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

that  ever  lived,  and  you  smell  like  sunshine  and 
fresh  air!"  she  cried.  Whereat  he  shook  with 
laughter  and  patted  her  back  as  she  clung  to  him. 

"  Promise   me,    Red,"   she   begged,   lifting   her 

head,   "that  you  won't  let  anything  —  anything 

-  keep  you  from  going  off  with  Ellen  in  the  Imp. 

She's  been   so  lovely  about  this  horrid  delay,  but 

I'm  always  suspicious  of  you.     Promise!" 

"I  promise  you  this,"  agreed  her  brother: 
"Wherever  the  Imp  and  I  go,  after  the  minister 
has  said  the  words,  for  this  two  weeks  Ellen 
shall  go  with  me." 

"Chester,"  said  Dick  Warburton  as  he  stood 
in  that  gentleman's  company,  looking  over  a 
stupendous  assortment  of  wedding  gifts,  which, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  nobody  outside  the  family 
had  been  asked  to  see  Redfield  Pepper  Burns 
married,  overflowed  two  large  rooms  into  the 
upper  hall  and  almost  over  the  railing,  "will  you 
tell  me  who  in  the  name  of  time  sent  that  rat-trap  ? 
This  is  the  most  extraordinary  display  of  gold, 
silver,  and  tinware  that  I  ever  saw,  and  I'm  at  the 
end  of  my  astonishment.  But  that  rat-trap,  is 
it  a  joke  ?" 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  223 

"No  joke  whatever,"  declared  Chester.  "It 
comes  from  one  of  Red's  devoted  friends  —  his 
own  invention.  And  the  point  of  the  thing  is  that 
the  making  of  that  rat-trap  is  going  to  be  the  mak 
ing  of  the  worst  dead-beat  of  a  patient  Red  ever 
stood  by.  I  really  believe  Joe  Tressler's  going 
to  get  a  patent  on  it,  which  also  will  be  Red's 
doing.  But  this  is  a  special,  particular  rat-trap 
made  of  extra  fine  materials,  suitable  for  a  wedding 
gift!" 

"Well,  well,"  mused  Burns's  brother-in-law. 
"And  what  millionaire  sent  the  diamond  pend 
ant?  By  Jove,  I  haven't  seen  finer  jewels  than 
those  this  side  of  the  water." 

"That  came  from  the  Walworths,  I  believe. 
Take  it  all  together,  it's  a  great  collection,  isn't 
it  ?  It  shows  up  the  odder  because  Ellen  wouldn't 
have  the  freak  grateful-patient  gifts  put  to  one 
side  —  or  even  thrown  into  a  sort  of  refining 
shadow.  Fix  your  eye  on  that  rainbow  quilt, 
will  you,  Dicky,  alongside  of  the  Florentine 
tapestry  ?  That  quilt  would  put  out  your  eye  if 
you  gazed  upon  it  steadily,  so  let  up  on  it  by 
regarding  this  match-safe.  Wouldn't  that  - 
'That  came  from  Johnny  Caruthers,"  said  a 


224  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

richly  modulated  low  voice  behind  him.  "  Please 
set  it  down  carefully,  Mr.  Arthur  Chester." 

The  two  men  wheeled  to  see  the  bride  come  to 
the  defense  of  her  wedding  gifts.  Behind  her 
loomed  her  husband,  laughing  over  her  head, 
his  eyes  none  the  less  tender,  like  hers,  for  the 
queer  presents  which  meant  no  less  of  love  and 
gratitude  than  the  costlier  gifts,  of  which  there 
was  no  mean  array. 

"I  see  you've  married  him,  patients  and  all, 
Ellen  Burns,"  declared  Richard  Warburton.  "On 
the  whole,  it's  your  wisest  course.  The  less  he 
knows  you  mind  their  devotion  to  him  - 

"Mind  it!"  She  gave  him  the  flash  of  which 
the  soft  black  eyes  were  brilliantly  capable. 
"Dick,  I  have  no  gift  I  like  so  well  as  that  rat- 
trap.  You  don't  know  the  story,  but  I  do,  and 
it  means  to  me  —  fidelity  to  duty.  And  if  there's 
one  great  big  thing  in  the  world  I  think  it's  that!" 

Over  her  head,  Dick  Warburton  nodded  at 
his  brother-in-law.  "I'm  glad  we've  got  her 
into  the  family,  Red,"  said  he.  "It's  a  mighty 
rare  thing  to  find  a  beautiful  woman  who  knows 
how  to  dress  like  a  picture,  with  that  ideal  at  the 
back  of  her  head!  Cherish  her,  Red.  If 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  225 

you  don't    I'll    come    around    and    knock    you 
down!" 

"I'll  let  you  do  it,"  agreed  Burns  soberly.  All 
his  marriage  vows  were  in  his  face. 

It  was  quite  dusk  when  the  Green  Imp  got 
away.  Johnny  Caruthers  had  the  satisfaction  of 
lighting  up  the  car's  lamps  —  always  a  joy  to  him, 
and  particularly  so  to-night,  for  even  the  oil  tail- 
light  bore  witness  to  his  trimming  and  polishing 
till  its  red  eye  could  gleam  no  brighter.  As  for 
the  front  lamps  and  the  searchlight  —  the  Imp's 
progress  would  be  as  down  an  avenue  of  brilliance 
if  its  driver  allowed  them  all  full  play  upon  the 
road. 

"She's  in  great  trim,  Johnny,"  said  Burns's 
voice  in  his  ear.  "I  like  her  looks  immensely. 
I  shall  hate  to  get  a  speck  of  mud  on  her." 

"Meaning  the  lady,  Doc?"  asked  Johnny 
anxiously.  "There's  a  wet  bit  there  under  the 
elms,  Doc,  remember.  It  would  be  a  pity  to 
splash  any  mud  on  her!" 

He  glanced  toward  the  porch,  his  freckled  face 
eloquent  of  his  admiration  for  the  figure  which 
was  the  centre  of  the  group  gathered  there. 


226  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

Burns's  eyes  followed  his.  Bob,  a  picturesque, 
small  person  in  his  wedding  attire  of  white  linen, 
was  attempting  to  tie  Ellen's  motor-veil  for  her, 
as  she  stooped,  smiling,  to  the  level  of  his  eager 
little  arms.  It  occurred  to  both  master  and  man, 
as  they  watched  the  child's  efforts  to  adjust  the 
floating  chiffon,  that  veils,  however  useful,  were 
to  be  regretted  when  they  were  allowed  even  par 
tially  to  obscure  faces  like  those  of  Red  Pepper's 
wife. 

"I  meant  the  car,  lad,"  explained  Burns, 
laughing.  "You've  done  a  great  piece  of  work 
on  her  since  I  brought  her  home  this  afternoon. 
I'm  afraid  you've  done  some  last  polishing  with 
your  wedding  clothes  on,  Johnny.  Here's  some 
thing  to  take  the  spots  out." 

"Oh,  Docf"  breathed  the  boy.  "Not  to-night. 
Let  me  do  it  —  for  you  —  and  her." 

The  money  went  back  into  Burns's  pocket, 
and  his  hand  met  Johnny's  in  a  hearty  grasp. 
'That's  better  yet,"  said  he,  "and  thank  you, 
John.  If  anybody  but  you  were  sending  me 
off  I'd  ask  if  everything  was  surely  in  the  car. 
But  I'll  not  even  ask  you." 

"You  don't  need  to,"  vowed  the   boy  proudly 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  227 

"And  there's  some  things  in  you  don't  need 
to  ,know  about,  just  extrys  in  case  of  break 
down." 

"Now,  that,"  said  his  employer,  "is  what  I 
call  proving  one's  self  a  friend." 

The  Imp  went  cautiously  through  the  "wet 
bit,"  for  it  lay  under  the  corner  arc-light,  and 
Johnny  Caruthers  would  be  watching.  But, 
once  on  the  open  road  outside  the  village,  the 
pace  quickened.  For  late  April  the  roads  were 
not  bad,  and  if  they  had  been  sloughs  the  Imp 
could  have  pulled  through  them.  She  had  a 
great  power  hidden  away  in  those  six  cylinders 
of  hers,  had  the  Imp. 

"You'll  not  mind  if  I  stop  at  the  hospital  as 
we  go  through?"  questioned  Burns.  "Then 
we'll  be  off,  out  the  old  west  road,  out  of  reach 
of  telephones  and  summonses  of  any  sort.  But 
I  shall  be  just  that  much  easier  — 

"Do  stop,  please.  'I'm  sure  you'll  be  more 
satisfied  —  and  so  shall  I." 

She  sat  quietly  in  the  car  while  he  was  gone, 
looking  up  at  the  lighted  windows  and  thinking 
all  sorts  of  sympathetic  thoughts  concerning 
those  inside  —  yet  with  a  tiny  fear  in  her  heart 


228  RED  PEPPER  BURNS 

that  he  would  find  some  new  and  unavoidable 
duty  to  detain  him.  If  he  should  - 

But  he  was  back,  and  as  the  Imp's  search 
light  fell  upon  his  face,  returning,  she  read  there 
that  he  was  free. 

"Doing  well,  everything  satisfactory,  and  I've 
not  a  care  in  the  world,"  he  exulted  as  he  leaped 
in.  "Now  we're  off,  and  never  a  stop  till  we've 
put  a  wide  space  between  us  and  the  rest  of  them." 

The  Green  Imp  ran  at  its  quietest  along  the 
city  streets,  then  through  the  thinning  suburbs, 
and  finally,  with  the  lights  all  behind  them,  the 
open  country  ahead,  the  long,  low  car  came  out 
upon  the  straight  highway  which  leads  a  hundred 
miles  before  it  comes  again  to  any  but  insignifi 
cant  hamlets  and  small,  rustic  inns. 

Burns  had  said  little  thus  far,  but  as  he  glanced 
over  his  shoulder  at  the  now  distant  lights  of  the 
city  he  suddenly  spoke  low,  out  of  the  quiet: 

"We're  out  of  reach  of  everything  and  every 
body;  nobody  even  knows  the  road  we're  taking. 
We're  all  alone  in  the  world  together.  You  can't 
think  what  that  means  to  me.  I've  lived  nine 
years  at  the  call  of  every  soul  that  wanted  me; 
hardly  a  vacation  except  for  study.  A  fortnight 


HE  DEFIES  SUPERSTITION  229 

seems  pretty  short  allowance  for  a  honeymoon; 
well  take  a  longer  one  when  we  go  to  Germany 
in  the  fall.  But  — for  two  weeks  — 

He  looked  down  at  her  in  the  April  starlight. 
He  bent  to  finish  the  statement,  whatever  it  might 
have  been,  upon  her  lips,  for  speech  failed  him. 
Then,  with  a  happy  laugh,  he  gave  the  Green 
Imp  her  head. 


THE   END 


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